Son of the Dark
by SilverSolitaire
Summary: SLASH -- *Part 5 - Is now up!* When Snape gets confronted with his past and temptation arises, a scheme could destroy the lives of Harry and Draco. [sequel to the Petronius-series]
1. Prologue

Untitled Document

A few useful things to know:  
This is an indirect sequel to my other series, starting with 'Uncontrollable Passions'. It's not necessary to have read it, but it certainly helps.  
It's going to take a while, since I've big plans for it.  
I'll try not to take too long for each part, but I'm prone to writer's blocks and chronical low self-esteem, so please be patient.  
Feedback is a good thing. ^_^  
Right now, the rating is PG-13, but I might adjust that later, depending on my mood. I might not write any sex scenes at all in this one. I'll decide later.

A word of warning:  
I refuse to rate this any differently than I would rate het stories, just because it involves **m/m**. This story deals with an established relationship, sex is only hinted at and I'm using the f-word only once. So please spare me and you the bother of taking your flame to FFN-Slashers-Unite and have a good laugh. ^_~

The cover art to 'Son of the Dark' can be found [here][1].

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**Son of the Dark**  
by Silver 

~ Prologue ~

Severus Snape stood at the window and stared out into the yard below. His arms were wrapped around his lean body and he was frowning gloomily, giving the perfect impression of the stern potions master. In this situation, nobody would have dared to approach him with any request, no matter how important. But he was alone anyway.

His black eyes followed the people who emerged from the shiny black coach that had stopped in the middle of the school yard. As its door swung shut it revealed the magnificent picture of a bright green dragon locked in combat with a fiery red lion, carved into the ebony and decorated with gold leaf. The couple went over to meet Dumbledore and McGonagall who were waiting for them in front of the Hogwarts main entry. They exchanged a few words and a shook hands.

Snape's eyes wandered over to the spot behind the hedges that surrounded the gardens where two boys stood, protected from the others' eyes. It was Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, having a vivid discussion about something. Draco threw a nervous look over his shoulder, checking the position of the new arrival, then said something to Harry again who shook his head vigorously.

A bitter smile appeared on Snape's lips as he watched Draco pull Harry into an embrace, kissing him deeply before letting go of him again to straighten his robes and smooth his hair. With one last comment to Harry he turned around and hastily walked over to the small group, inconspicuously feeling his lips as he walked, probably afraid to have any signs of the kiss left on them. Snape shook his head. Those foolish boys.

When they saw their son approaching, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy turned to welcome him. Narcissa tilted her head to receive her son's kiss and Lucius lifted one of his slender hands to touch Draco's cheek for a moment before letting it drop again. Their welcome seemed to be even more polite than the one with Dumbledore and McGonagall before had been.

The group disappeared into the building and Snape remained at the window, glowering some more. When he could be sure that enough time had passed for them to go to wherever it was their intention to go, he left his observation point and made for the staircase that led into the Great Hall and subsequently down to his safe and quiet dungeons.

Luck, however, wasn't on his side today and he ran into the group at the foot of the stairs. Now he was forced to exchange a couple of polite words with them himself and he cringed inwardly at the desecration of his secluded gloominess.

His eyes met Draco's who quickly looked away. Snape's lips twisted into a cynical smile. He looked over to Lucius who stared at him calmly and mildly interested. He lifted an eyebrow. What was he doing here anyway?

With a mumbled excuse, he left the group behind and hurried down the stairs, longing for peace and quiet. He allowed himself to release his breath when the heavy door to his office fell into its lock, cutting off the annoying noises of people, of school... of life.

The tall leather armchair behind his desk was so inviting. He sank into its depths with a sigh, putting his fingertips together and touching his lips with them. He continued pondering some more. This was one of the days when he didn't feel like talking to anybody. When he got up in the morning and knew exactly that each word he would be forced to say was going to be an ordeal to squeeze past his lips. It was almost as if a word said out loud was an immense loss to the quality of his private thoughts.

What was Lucius doing here then? This question was hammering in his mind constantly. Of all those years that Draco had been a student of Hogwarts he had only shown up here a couple of times and then it had mostly been related to some Ministry of Magic business. Lucius was not the kind of person to attend a parent-teacher-day.

Snape rubbed the bridge of his nose to relieve the tension that built up inside of his head. Soon this was going to be another splitting headache. Maybe he shouldn't frown so much...

His thoughts returned to the Malfoy family. There used to be a time when the thought of Lucius or Draco hadn't given him a headache. There used to be a time when he thought that the darkness inside of him could yield to the light, even if it was just for a few hours. But that was over now. The darkness was a part of him.

Draco... he should have known. He should have known that it was a mistake to become attached to him. He didn't really mind that he had been left. Actually, he wasn't even so sure if he had been left at all. You couldn't get left if you never made a commitment. That he had learnt a long time ago. What really bothered him, though, was the fact that he lost Draco to little Harry Potter. The thought alone made him want to laugh. James' weakling son...

He clenched his fist at the thought of James Potter. How many times more was he going to get into his way? It was as if James was mocking him from beyond the grave. First him, then Harry. The Potters were starting to become an annoyingly vague quantity in his book.

What he didn't understand was how Draco could be drawn towards someone like Harry Potter. Potter was so nauseatingly innocent and good. He was so good that evil couldn't even touch him for the longest time. He suppressed a shudder. Draco was a kindred soul. He knew that. They both knew that. Draco was bound to hurt the ones he loved, because he too couldn't fight the darkness inside of him. In Snape at least, he would have found someone who understood.

But would this be fair? Being a substitute was worse than being alone. Oh yes...

With a sigh, Snape tilted his head and buried it into his hands, massaging his temples with his fingers. The coldness of his own hands made him shiver.

Sometimes he was afraid of the darkness. Was afraid that it could break out of him like a nasty rash, openly on display for everyone to see. When he looked into Dumbledore's mellow eyes he wondered if the old man knew. Albus trusted him. He trusted him so much that he had given him a home in a time when extending so much as a hand to him could have meant immediate destruction if you weren't as strong as Dumbledore was. Snape sincerely hoped that he deserved this trust. But how could one trust him, if he didn't even trust himself?

Snape closed his eyes, using a meditation technique he had learnt in those dark years when the pain had been the only proof that he was still alive. It enabled him to drown out the pain and use this concentration to put himself in some kind of sleeplike trance. This was the only way to stop his mind from racing. He knew that once he'd risen from this short sleep again, the pain would be gone and his mind calm again.

The sense of a presence in the room made him snap out of his concentration at once. He didn't lift his head, feeling into the silence to find out who it was. His body discovered the identity of his unannounced visitor sooner than his brain did, for it relaxed and waited calmly, predatorlike, for the person to come closer before he had even decided what to do with him.

Snape stopped himself short in time not to arch into the touch of cool fingers at the nape of his neck, touching his sensitive skin and making him shudder. The hand of milk-white skin reached under his chin and lifted him up. He met the glance of pale gray eyes and closed his own, awaiting the kiss. Soon those lips he knew so well covered his and a light tongue snaked its way into his mouth. The coarse hair of a beard softly brushed his chin. He sighed. "Lucius..."

They parted and Lucius Malfoy sat down at the edge of the desk, looking at him with this amused half-smile that he hadn't abandoned together with the rest of his boyish behavior. Snape's heart tightened at the memory.

"Severus," Lucius said, nodding slightly. It was no question, not even a greeting and yet it was obvious that it contained all this.

For a moment, Snape didn't know what to say. He felt haunted by his past and he didn't like this feeling at all. But then, as he saw Lucius sitting on the same desk that had seen so many hushed encounters between him and his son, he was reminded of the fact that he had been desperately seeking this very memory intentionally.

So he said, "It's been a while, hasn't it."

Those cold eyes rested on his face and they formed such an irritating contrast to the constant air of friendliness that one could imagine on those sensual lips. Snape frowned.

This must have torn Lucius out of his revelry, because his expression suddenly changed, became harder and his attractive features lost their unnatural softness. "They told me you were dead, did you know that?"

So he had chosen the direct attack. Fine. He nodded. "Yes. I learnt about that later." A slight movement directed his attention to Lucius' hands that had been resting casually in his lap. Lucius was clasping his own wrist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Apparently he wasn't as calm as he wanted to make him believe.

"Did you also know that I spent the following months wandering around, grieving your loss, desperately trying to forget?"

Snape shook his head in a way that didn't betray his thoughts.

Lucius went on. "I bet you can imagine my surprise when I finally heard that you had joined the Hogwarts faculty." His smooth face was clouded with ambiguous emotions as he stared at him gloomily. Then, as if the sun had broken through a thick layer of clouds, he suddenly brightened up and added lightly, "But, fortunately, by that time I was already well over you."

He got up and walked over to one of the shelves, inspecting them. It gave Snape the chance to marvel at Lucius' beautiful body. He hadn't changed, not even as the years had taken the youth off his face. His body was still lean and graceful and when he moved it reminded him of a silk scarf in the wind.

With a stifled sigh, Snape closed his eyes. How many times had he evoked this situation in his imagination and now that it was actually happening, he didn't know what to do.

A noise at the shelves brought him back to reality. He saw Lucius looking at him, holding something in his hands. His elegant eyebrow was curved into half-amusement, half-question. He recognized the object at once.

He got up abruptly, walked over to Lucius and took it briskly out of his hand. Much to his own dismay he realized that his fingers were shaking softly when he carefully placed the green jade dragon back onto the shelf, moving it until it had its perfect position again. The light of the candles hit its sapphire eyes and sent a sparkle over his hands. He pulled them back quickly.

"You still have it?"

"Of course," he answered roughly. "It's a valuable object. I'd be a fool to leave it behind."

"Ah." This wretched half-smile again! Lucius turned away from the shelf, giving him a wanton look. "And here I was thinking it was the melancholic fool in you, keeping an old lover's gift."

Snape scoffed. "Hardly. Why should I have felt melancholy at all? You were well occupied with other... activities and your sudden rise among Voldemort's men made it easy for me to leave. There was no room left for me."

Lucius smile deepened, but it didn't get any warmer. "Room, where? In my bed or among us? And as what? My lover? Or a traitor..."

A sudden flash seemed to flare in Lucius' eyes and they crossed swords with their glances, both fighting for the other one to avert his eyes first. It was Lucius who finally did it and Snape felt a silly joy over this small victory.

"Why now, after all these years?" he asked Lucius' back.

It seemed to take forever for Lucius to answer. "Can't I just pay an old friend a visit?"

"No."

Lucius chuckled. "Looks like I'm not wanted here."

"Are you surprised?"

"Not really." He turned to look at Snape, a dishonest smile on his face. "But at least you could have lied about it."

"I never had your talent."

Lucius laughed artificially. "Oh, that was low." Then his face melted to a mask of insincere compassion. "What made you so hard, Severus? What happened to the eager boy I knew at school?"

Snape felt his jaw tighten and clenched his fists. Lucius would never know and never understand what he'd been through. "He died a long time ago."

With that he swung round and walked back to his chair, putting the desk between them. When he sat down, knitting his fingers together, he felt more self-assured again. "I'm not in the mood for games, Lucius. Tell me what you really want from me. What's the true reason for your being here?"

"Ah, as matter-of-factly as ever," Lucius said lightly, sauntering back to the edge of the desk. He sat down and crossed his legs gracefully. He started inspecting his hands, driving Snape crazy with it.

Frowning, Snape felt his headache start again. He didn't want to put up with this and he just wanted Lucius to leave, yet he'd be damned if he let him know how much he threw him off his stroke. So he leaned back and waited with an air of patience around him that he didn't really feel.

"You know," Lucius finally began. "I don't hate you." He looked up and their eyes met. Snape sucked in his breath painfully at the memory of how beautifully those eyes could sparkle when they were clouded with passion. "In all those years I never managed to find a person quite like you. Someone who understood what was going on inside of me. A kindred soul."

The effort to conceal his expression almost caused Snape physical pain.

"But it was doomed from the start," Lucius continued. "We both knew that." For the first time since they spoke he smiled a genuinely sad smile, but it didn't last longer than it took Snape to swallow. "I probably never would have gotten this far in life, if I had stuck to this unspeakable inclination of mine. So, in a way I'm even grateful, Severus. Your betrayal has set me free."

Snape shivered from a sudden cold. He wrapped his arms around his body.

"It took me a while to see this, though. When you were gone, I..." He clicked his tongue. "I guess you could say, I tried to cope. I've fucked them all, those slender black-haired boys. I made them scream and cry and their pain satisfied my own."

Snape stared at Lucius in horror, unable to say a word. He flinched, when he felt Lucius' hand at his cheek, the touch as light as the kiss of a butterfly.

"Oh Severus..." Lucius said wistfully. "Do you know why I married Narcissa?" Hardly waiting for Snape to answer he continued, "Because she was nothing like you. Her light skin and fair hair didn't remind me of you in any way. I knew I could bear her touch without feeling..." He left the sentence unfinished and Snape wondered if it was ever meant to end at all.

This conversation wasn't going at all like he had expected it to. Snape shook his head slightly, shaking off Lucius hand and the memory of his touch. He leaned further back in his chair. Only with physical distance between them he could keep a clear head. "Oh, stop this sentimental drivel! It doesn't suit you."

Lucius looked at him for a moment. Then he said, "Of course."

No, he wouldn't fall for it. Not this time, never again. His heart was sealed now, hard and unmovable. Now he could deal with Lucius adequately. "My dear Lucius," he started. "You don't expect me to believe that you've missed me oh so much when you could have come and see me already years ago."

There seemed to be nothing that could shake Lucius' nonchalance. "That's true. I didn't have any use for you then."

Snape didn't even twitch. At least he was being honest. "Explain."

But Lucius attention had already been diverted again. He took a glance around the shelves, seemingly revolving important issues, judged by the expression of sheer concentration on his face. Then he said casually, "I'm very pleased with Draco."

Startled at the sudden change of subject, Snape hissed, "What?"

"He will make me proud one day. Soon, perhaps."

"What do you mean?"

"We are all part of one great plan, Severus. We all have our part in the Great Chess Game. Some are destined to be the pawns and some are the ones who move them."

Snape didn't even contemplate for a second which of those two groups Lucius belonged to.

"You see, Severus, I have given my son the time to develop his individual abilities and... sow his wild oats, so to speak. But now it's time for him to do his part for the family honor."

Snape was getting increasingly impatient. "I still don't see what this all has got to do with me."

Lucius smiled "Great changes are ahead, Severus. The dawning of a new era, the reign of the Purebloods. And you can be a part of it, if you only want to."

A cold draft swept through his body and gripped his heart when it finally dawned on Snape what was going on here. 'Oh no... not now...' he thought desperately. He closed his eyes for a moment and then said, "I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about."

Lucius' smile deepened. "What would you say if I said 'The complete and total destruction of your enemies, the demise of Harry Potter and the rise of Lord Voldemort'?"

"I'd say you're insane." And with a draining sense of defeat when the darkness rushed over him he added, "But keep talking."

*******************************

Harry was lying on his stomach, the warm evening breeze caressing his damp skin. He was looking from under heavy lidded eyes at Draco who was leaning against the trunk of a tree, playing absentmindedly with a blade of grass. The blanket had slipped down to his hips and revealed his naked chest. Harry smiled happily and yawned, nuzzling the soft skin of his boyfriend that was in his reach without having to move too much.

Draco looked at him and returned the smile, brushing the dark hair out of his eyes and touching his cheek. Then he stared into the void again, turning the bit of grass between his fingers. "I wonder what he's doing here," he finally said.

"Hm?" Harry croaked sleepily.

"My father. It doesn't make sense."

"I don't know." Harry yawned again. "He probably just wanted to see how his son was doing."

"Are you kidding?" Draco laughed humorlessly. "That would be a first. It's bad enough when I have to put up with him during holidays and term breaks. I really can't use him prowling around here, too." He flicked away the blade and sat upright, pulling the blanket with him.

To preserve the warmth around him, Harry snuggled up against Draco, putting his head on his lap.

Draco started stroking Harry's back. After a while he said, "When he's near me I'm reminded of things I don't want to think about."

"Like what?"

He hesitated briefly. "Things... like unpleasant memories. And... why I'm not supposed to be with you." His caresses stopped when he felt Harry going rigid under his hands. Gently, he pulled him up to look into his face. "You don't like me saying so, do you?"

Harry cast down his eyes. "It's not important."

Smiling lovingly, Draco pushed up Harry's chin. "Well, to me it is, anyway. _You_ are important to me." He kissed him.

When they parted, Harry licked his lips while pretending to be thinking hard before he said with a sly grin. "Maybe we shouldn't have sex for a while..."

"What, why??"

"Because you're always so thoughtful afterwards. It's pressing down on your mood."

"Oh, I'll show you what's pressing down on me!" With that, Draco pulled him on his lap and captured his lips in a passionate kiss.

Later, Draco was hugging Harry from behind, his chin resting on the other boy's shoulder, their hands entwined in front of Harry's stomach. They were watching the sun cast a reddish glow over the surface of the lake as it disappeared behind the small clearing they had made their own private refuge on those warm early summer evenings.

"Relax... take your mind off it. It's gonna be all right," Harry whispered, patting Draco's hand.

"I'm not saying anything."

"I know, but I can sense that you're not here. Your mind is somewhere between Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor." 

"Sorry..." Draco mumbled, pressing a kiss on Harry's shoulder. "I just don't want him to be near, that's all. There's something fishy about it..."

Harry sighed, turning on his back to look at Draco. "You think too much. Your worries are probably unfounded."

Draco looked at him for a long time, then shook his head slowly. "No Harry. That's something you must not forget: You cannot trust a Malfoy."

***

~ to be continued in 'Part 1: Hagal' ~

April '01

   [1]: http://SonoftheDark.glasscases.net



	2. Hagal

Untitled Document

Summary: You cannot trust a Malfoy.  
Rating: PG for mind-fuck, whoops, there you go, PG-13 ^_^.

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**Son of the Dark**  
by Silver 

~ Part 1 - Hagal ~

"I told you, I don't _care_ what he's doing here or if he's here at all! I just don't want to know!" Draco stormed past Harry who was standing in the door of the Slytherin dressing room, grabbing his gym bag on his way out.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes as he followed his boyfriend outside. He caught up with him half-way down to the greenhouses. "Listen," he said. "I know you're cranky right now, but..."

"I'm not cranky!!"

"Whatever. Anyway, you should give your father a chance. You hardly see him anymore. Don't you want to build up a relationship with him?"

Draco stopped and took a deep breath, then he turned to Harry, very slowly, and said as if he was talking to a child, "Which part of 'I don't give a flying rat's ass about what my father is doing,' don't you understand?"

Harry frowned. "Draco, do we have to go through this every time your father is coming to Hogwarts?"

"Yes!" He spun round and continued on his way, not interrupting his rant. "What's he doing here anyway? He never showed up here and now he's coming every frigging week!"

"What are you so upset about?" Harry sighed softly as he tried to catch up with his boyfriend. "It's not like he was openly prying into your affairs, you know? Most of the times he hardly ever gets to see you. And if it weren't for me, it probably would be never."

It was usually Harry who was the voice of reason. Last time, he almost had to use physical violence to even get Draco to say good bye to his father. "I'm not going!" he had insisted with childish defiance to which Harry had replied, "Do you want to get your father interested in what's keeping his son busy?" This argument had worked and made Draco comply, but not without giving him a glare from his pale eyes that promised a week of love deprivation (which in the end turned out to be two hours, if at all).

"Listen," he tried again. "You don't have to celebrate Happy Reunion right now, but you could at least give your father a chance when he seems to be trying."

With a deep sigh, the energy left Draco's body and he sank down against the wall of the greenhouse. Harry sat down next to him.

"Don't you see, Harry? He's never trying. He's just commanding." When he looked at Harry, he looked so much like the lost little boy he tried so hard not to be. "He never cared for me." Draco moved closer and put his head against Harry's chest. "He doesn't even see that he's doing anything wrong. Maybe he isn't at all... How can it be wrong when it's never been different?" He fell silent for a moment and Harry started stroking his head.

"It's okay..."

"It's all about family. About family honor, duties and success. Yes, success and prestige." Draco laughed dryly. "That's what he's probably got tattooed on his ass."

Harry chuckled.

"I'm just so tired of him pretending to be interested in me and then finding out that it was just something else."

"Oh Draco, don't think that. You're father surely doesn't mean it that way. He's probably just---"

Draco cut him off gruffly. "You don't know how it is to have a father like that!"

Harry's hand stopped stroking him. "Yes, you're right. I don't know how it is to have a father."

Not giving Harry's mumbled comment any consideration, Draco went on, "Every day I have to see him is one day too many. He wants to control everything I do." He sat up. "And my mother! When I look at her sheepish smile when she complies with everything he says and then she tries to tell _me_ what to do. How am I to respect someone like that? I'm just glad I don't have any siblings. They'd probably be just as insufferable."

Only now did Draco realize that Harry had retreated from him both physically and emotionally. He looked at him, confused. "What?"

Harry looked away. "Oh nothing. Just... No siblings. That at least I can offer. Since I don't know anything else..."

Draco looked at him for a moment, apparently contemplating how to take this remark. Then he sucked in his breath. "Oh shit! You didn't think I meant to say that..." He grabbed Harry's shoulders and pulled him closer. "Harry... look at me, Harry."

Reluctantly, Harry turned his face.

"I didn't mean it that way okay?" Draco groaned. "Man... I'm such a klutz. How can you resist the temptation to bash my face in every day?"

That broke the tension and Harry smiled. "It's tough, but I can make it."

Draco sighed. "I'm sorry..." He slumped his shoulders and ran his long fingers through his hair. "It's just... I think I'm getting nervous, because we're reaching the end of term. And then there'll be summer break! Easter holiday was hell already and this time I'll be stuck in that mansion for weeks..."

Another sigh that ended in a bitter laugh. "I shouldn't be such a wimp. As if I was surprised about it..."

Harry touched Draco's cheek. "It's okay, Draco. It's okay to be weak sometimes. Just let it out." He placed a gentle kiss on Draco's lips.

Draco took the opportunity to draw Harry closer and deepen the kiss. When they parted, he licked his lips with a cheeky smile and said, "Okay, you've won. I'm going to see my father now."

Harry returned the smile. "That's good."

*******************************

Draco felt terribly nervous when he walked down the path that lead from the campus to the yard in front of the school where his father would be waiting for him. Thanks to his initial refusal, he didn't have the time to change his clothes anymore. So he was now in the robes he had worn all day and his hair was mussed from both Quidditch practice and saying goodbye to Harry. He hated to face his father in anything but an impeccable state.

When he turned round a corner, he spotted his father's tall figure in front of the family coach, tapping his hand impatiently against his other arm, since he had crossed them in front of his chest. A wave of unpleasant feelings rushed through Draco, and he waited a brief moment to get himself under control enough to handle his father.

Lucius Malfoy saw him and the tapping of his hand immediately stopped. He looked at his son calmly and waited for him to come up to him. "You're late," he said, as soon as Draco arrived.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Practice took a little longer today."

"Your team mates already came through here half an hour ago."

"Eh, I know. I stayed in a little longer for extra practice."

Lucius gave him his famous look of disapproval. "Although you knew I was waiting for you?"

Draco tried hard to blush a little. "Yes... it was necessary."

"Of course." Lucius turned around and walked over to one of the paths that led to the park. "Follow me, Draco. Let's take a walk."

With a shrug, Draco followed.

They walked next to each other for a while, saying nothing. Lucius was the first to break the silence. "Draco, my son, I can see that you're not happy."

Stopping dead, Draco replied, "What? What makes you think that?"

Lucius smiled briefly. "Don't take me for a fool. How much empathy does it take for a father to realize that when his son refuses to talk to him?"

Nervously, Draco replied, "No, that's not it, I..."

With a lax movement of his hand, Lucius brushed aside his son's interjection. Then he looked at him in a way that said, 'I know all your secrets, but I don't know how to use them yet'. Draco shivered.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Feigning ignorance, Draco asked, "Tell you what?"

The smile reappeared. "I've been talking to Severus, you must know."

Draco felt himself pale. He hardly dared to ask the question. "So? What did he say? Is it about my grades?"

"No, those are excellent in Potions, as always. We rather talked about... human relations."

"Human..." Draco swallowed.

Lucius' smile got deeper and colder. "Harry Potter, for example."

His heart sank into the pit of his stomach. "O-oh?" Damn, he was stuttering! Draco's mind was racing to find the least suspicious answer to that and came up with a brilliant, "R-really?"

Putting a hand on Draco's shoulder, Lucius said lightly, "You could have told me that you and Harry Potter are..." The hand squeezed his shoulder. "Friends." Without giving Draco the time to react, he continued. "I wouldn't have minded, really. I think it's wonderful that you made friends."

Draco felt as if he had jumped out of his skin and was watching this surreal scene from a distance. He shook his head, confused. "I'm... not following."

"I know you think I hate Potter... Harry, I mean. But that's not true. If you like him, it's fine with me." Lucius patted his cheek with a benign smile. "My son, it hurts me to think that you wouldn't tell me such things. I know I haven't been the best father in the past, but I'm willing to work on that."

Draco blinked. "Okaaay..." He wanted to ask where the catch was, but he stopped himself in time.

"I want to get to know your..." Lucius sniffed, "little friends. I'm interested in who's keeping my son company."

"Friends?" Ah, there was the catch.

"Yes, your new friends. I'm glad that you've made other friends than those two dim-witted half-apes you used to socialize with. I've already taken the necessary steps. You don't have any plans for the coming weekend, do you?"

"Well, actually---"

"That's good. I'll see you then." With that Lucius turned around and left his son behind.

*******************************

Still feeling quite confused, Draco walked across the lawn to meet Harry, only to find him chatting away with the twins. He frowned slightly, but got his fit of jealousy under control by the time he reached the tree.

"Harry, I'm still the same, right?" he said, interrupting their conversation. "I mean, I haven't been transported into some parallel universe, have I? You're still the same, too, no? I mean, I am me and you are you. Right?"

George chuckled. "I swear he's not speaking English!"

As if noticing them just now, Draco turned to the twins. "Oh, hello, Weasels."

"Yo, Drecko!" was the sweet reply. Fred flinched when Harry whacked him.

"What did your father want?" Harry asked.

Glaring at the twins, Draco said, "Would you mind?"

Fred blinked. "Mind what?" A look at Harry who was nodding into the direction of the building, he exclaimed, "Oh! Sure! Sorry!" He jumped up and pulled his brother with him. "We'll be inside. Well, you know... sitting. And remember, guys, you're in public!" He winked and left.

"Jerks," Draco hissed, glowering after them.

Harry smiled and patted the now unoccupied place next to him. "Sit and tell me what your father wanted."

Still scowling, he sat down on the stone bench and crossed his legs elegantly. He closed his eyes and let the evening sun caress his face. When he opened them again, Harry was still looking at him patiently. He sighed. "It's just as I thought."

"What is just as you thought?"

"My father. He's so full of it. I can smell it from here."

"I'm not following..."

Draco looked at him directly. "He wants me to invite my 'little friends' to Malfoy Manor over the weekend."

Dumbstruck, Harry gasped, "What? 'Little friends'? Who?"

He gave Harry a mocking look. "Take a wild guess."

"What, me? But how did he find out?"

"Snape told him."

Harry put his hand on Draco's, hidden by their robes. "What exactly did he tell him?"

Draco shrugged. "I'm not sure. But apparently, my father only thinks we're friends, and I've been acting strangely because I thought he hated you and didn't want to tell. Fine with me, actually."

Harry waited for a moment, then he said softly, "So he doesn't guess a thing?"

"Hell no!" Draco ejected. When he caught Harry's look, he said, "Why do I get the feeling you're disappointed?"

Quickly getting himself under control, Harry answered, "Oh no, not disappointed at all."

Draco gently prodded his nose. "Liar."

"Well... it's just... I guess I was wondering if you'd be a bit more open if he knew."

"Open." Draco pulled his hand away from under Harry's and put it into his lap. "I am open. As far as it's possible."

Harry nodded slowly. "I know."

"You know I... care a lot for you. Right?"

With a faint smile, Harry replied, "Sometimes."

Sighing deeply, Draco lifted one hand and brushed away the hair that fell into Harry's eyes. Then he took Harry's hand and squeezed it. "You are so special, Harry. Never forget that."

"I won't." Harry smiled warmly. "I love you."

Draco returned the smile. "I know." He lifted the hand to his lips and kissed the fingertips. "How about we going to somewhere private so I can show you..."

Blushing furiously, Harry hissed, "Dracooo. People will see us."

"Let them look," Draco mumbled, kissing Harry's palm.

Harry stifled a groan, when Draco's tongue ran over his wrist.

A shadow fell on both of them and Draco looked up, squinting against the setting sun at the slender figure in front of them.

"You realize there are rooms for that, don't you?" Snape said coolly.

Draco dropped Harry's hand and replied with equal iciness, "Actually, I didn't. Unless you're faculty, of course."

Snape pressed his lips together. Dropping the matter, he then said, not without a trace of gloating, "Looks like we'll be spending the weekend together."

Harry's eyes narrowed to slits as he joined in. "What do you mean?"

Snape looked at him like some nasty insect. "Dumbledore just informed me that Lucius Malfoy wishes his son and his friends to spend the weekend at his estate." He bared his teeth to a grin. "Somehow he must have guessed that this would involve Harry Potter and since your life is so precious, I was assigned to come along with you."

"You're kidding!" Harry exclaimed.

Draco just groaned.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't interfere with your... boys' games. Dumbledore asked me since he knows Lucius and I are friends. This'll keep me busy when I'm not... guarding your life."

"I'm sure you will..." Harry mumbled.

Snape's eye flashed, but he didn't say anything. Then he turned around and left them both behind.

*******************************

The sleek black coach rode roughly over a bump in the road and caused the passengers to jump in their seats yet again. Ron moaned and dug his fingers into the curtain as another wave of sickness came over him. Hermione shrieked when her book slipped off her lap, and the twins giggled happily.

"Oh Go-o-od... can't this stupid coach drive more carefully? You can't even blame the driver since this thing is going on its own!" Ron complained. "I'm sure your father sent the worst coach there was."

"All of our coaches are in excellent condition," Draco replied gruffly. "If you're suffering that much, you're free to sit outside on the driver's bench, right next to Snape!"

Ron snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So, tell me again, just because I love to hear it, why exactly are we taking this trip?" Fred interrupted them.

"So that Draco's father doesn't find out that his son is jumping Harry's bones," Ron murmured.

"Hey!" Harry shot up from his seat.

"But that's our purpose here, isn't it? We get to pretend that we are Draco's friends just because it would be rather conspicuous if he had brought Harry only."

"Must be hard, since you don't even like me!" Draco hissed.

Before Ron could say something, George said brightly, "I like you!"

Draco grimaced. "Oh, that's too kind!"

"My most delightful pleasure!"

Ignoring Draco and the twin's bickering, Harry moved closer to Ron and said with a low voice, "If you hated the idea of coming along so much, why didn't you tell me sooner? I thought..." He lowered his glance for a moment. "I thought you were going to try to get along with Draco."

Ron sighed. "I'm trying. I really am. It's just not that easy, you must understand."

"Yeah, I know..."

"And it's not only that. I'm the fifth wheel here. You'll be with Draco all the time, Fred and George will be out and about and what is there left for me? Snape? I don't think so!"

Harry stared at him disbelievingly for a moment. Then he said, "Well, in case it never occurred to you, you could keep Hermione company, you know!"

They both looked at Hermione who was quietly sitting in the corner of the coach, her eyes intent on the large book in her lap. Quite a familiar image. Ron looked a little longer, then he snorted. "Aw, get a grip! That's Hermione!"

"So?

"Well, she..."

"That's amazing!"

Everybody in the coach stopped their conversation and stared at Hermione who looked up from her reading with an excited expression on her face.

"This book here says that Malfoy Manor has a picture gallery in the west wing that interacts with the visitors and can show several legends on request! It's a special painting technique that was developed by Giangalliazo di Sorigi, a Renaissance painter and wizard who worked at the palazzo of the Borgias. You know, Lucrezia Borgia, the famous witch who revolutionized the art of potion making... Oh, never mind, I'm digressing. Anyway, this book says that this technique is quite unique and since it was so time-consuming, you have to put a spell on each layer of paint and then use paint made of rare finster roots... eh, anyway, since it was so time-consuming, di Sorigi only completed five frescos of that size and sophistication, one of which is at Malfoy Manor! Isn't that simply amazing?"

Fred raised his eyebrows. "I keep hearing 'book' in connection with 'Malfoy'."

"Yes, show me that..." George took the book from Hermione's lap and read the cover, "'Cultural Heritage and Ancient Wizarding Families'... Oh geez, that's quite... heavy." He dropped the book again.

"You actually brought such a book with you?" Ron asked, nonplussed.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Well, yes. I thought since the trip was going to take a while I might as well use it to learn something about our places of cultural interest. I came across this book in the library and this is an excellent opportunity. Who knows when I'll ever get this close to Malfoy Manor again?"

"Hopefully never again..." Draco murmured gloomily. Harry gave him a concerned look.

Hermione, oblivious to Draco's reaction, continued. "I've read that the Malfoy family goes back many centuries, and Malfoy Manor has a history just as great. It looks like the foundation stone of this magnificent building has been laid by Roderick Malfoy no later than 1572! The stone figures at the main entrance were carved by Norwegian dwarves in 1834 from a magically preserved glacier and supposedly in the main hall there a huge mosaic that's made of dragon scales in all colors of the rainbow and even... Tiamat's! The last reported sighting of Tiamat was 1769! Isn't this exciting? And there was also an interesting story about---"

"Listen, Hermione!" Draco's frown had been deepening by the minute. He stared at Hermione angrily. "You're not telling me anything that I haven't heard twenty million times already. So please, spare me."

Hermione blushed and closed the book. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you..."

Draco was getting warm to his subject. "No, actually, since you're so fond of my home why don't we switch places? Yes, I think that would be an excellent idea! What is it your Muggle parents call themselves again?"

"Danish!", "Mantis!" Fred and George chimed in at the same time.

"Dentists, you morons!" Ron growled.

Hermione have Ron a side glance and blushed softly that she had had been beaten to correcting the twins.

"Whatever!" Draco continued. "Anyway, I'd _love_ to trade places, really! Must be wonderful to live in one of those cutesy little Muggle houses that are only 50 years old and where not every carpet has a history that is centuries long!"

"Oh, come on, Draco!" Harry interrupted him. "There's no need to be so mean to---"

"No, Harry, it's okay." Hermione looked Draco straight in the eyes. "I can handle this myself. Now _you_ listen to me! I'm really sorry for you that you had such a tough childhood, growing up in a mansion with house elves and a garden of the size of a football field! You have my deepest sympathy. But in case you haven't noticed, we're saving your little upper class ass here, okay?"

The twins were staring at her as if she had transformed into a troll. Draco's cheeks flushed furiously.

Hermione went on, "We're really trying our best here under really difficult circumstances, so if you don't want this weekend to end in a complete disaster, you'd better stop being such a jerk and be a little nicer to all of us. Then you don't have to complain about nobody liking you either. Understand?"

Draco was opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the coach ground to a sudden halt.

Ron moaned. "I bet Snape is manipulating this thing to give us the roughest ride possible!"

"What happened?" George opened a window to look outside. "Did we have a breakdown or what?"

Draco sat back in his seat and sighed. "No, worse... We're there."

***

~ to be continued in 'Part 2: Is' ~

April '01


	3. Is

Untitled Document

Summary: Malfoy Manor has dark secrets, but who will be the one to find them?  
Rating: PG-13 for mild sexual implications. Sorta.

************************************

**Son of the Dark**  
by Silver 

~ Part 2- Is ~

"Woah Nellie!" Fred stepped out of the coach and joined his brother in goggling at the magnificent building in front of them.

There, at the end of a snowy white forecourt, Malfoy Manor spread out in all of its splendor. Two extensive wings embraced the court which was surrounded by a delicate iron gate. A broad staircase of shiny marble led to the main entrance and was flanked by the statues of a dragon and a lion scowling at each other across the distance. They glistened in the parting sun like ice and yet they didn't seem to melt. Inside of the dragon, a glowing sphere was radiating a soft green shimmer. A red one illuminated the lion.

Hermione breathed in audibly. "Oh my God, this is beautiful..."

They barely had the time to admire the building sufficiently when a house elf came scurrying out of a hidden hatch at the bottom of the huge oak doors and bustled in front of them. "Oooooh, Master Draco!" the elf piped happily. "You came back again!"

Draco, obviously forcing himself to smile, said, "Oh hello, Donna."

"Master Draco, I have taken care of your rooms just like you left them! I'm so happy that you're back again!"

"Yes, Donna. It's all right, really..."

The house elf didn't seem to notice Draco's discomfort. She hopped happily and clapped her hands. "I've prepared your bunny slippers and cocoa for tonight already!"

Draco blushed furiously, muttering, "I don't have bunny slippers!" while the twins were nearly dying laughing. He glared at the house elf who was obviously oblivious to all this.

"Your father will be so happy to see you!"

"I seriously doubt that..."

That very moment, the large door swung open and Lucius Malfoy and his wife stepped outside. The twins sobered at once. Lucius cast a look on the small group of friends and twisted his lips into a smile. Narcissa hardly showed any reaction at all. She walked as though she was floating behind Lucius as they came down the stairs to meet the arrivals.

Lucius reached out to touch his son's cheek. "Draco, how nice. How was the trip? Exhausting?"

Draco hesitated for a moment. "Well, it was---"

"That's nice." Lucius diverted his eyes, which had been intent on his son before, and directed them at the small party of friends, Harry in particular, who couldn't suppress a shiver when those cold gray eyes measured him. "And you must be Harry Potter," Lucius drawled. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Really? Well... I've heard a lot about you, too. From your son, I mean..." Harry rubbed his hands nervously against his thighs. He didn't know whether to offer his hand to Draco's father or not.

Lucius' must have sensed this and smiled again as he extended a white-gloved hand. "It's nice to meet you on friendly terms this time. I hope you will enjoy your stay at Malfoy Manor."

His grasp was almost painfully firm as they shook hands. Harry winced inwardly.

Lucius' glance now fell on the others as if he was noticing them for the first time right now. He looked at Ron and the twins. "Oh, you must be Weasleys. It's been a while since I've met any of you, but I would recognize that hair of yours everywhere. Be welcomed, too." This time he didn't make any move to shake their hands, and Harry felt his cheeks flush.

The last one to attract Lucius' eyes was Hermione who pressed the book to her chest nervously. Lucius hesitated a moment, then he said with a strained smile, "Ms. Granger, I take it? It certainly has been a while since we last had a... guest like you at our house. Some of the magical devices are very old here and might not react to... certain people. I'll make sure that a house elf will always be near to assist you."

Hermione blushed furiously. Much to everyone's surprise, Draco stepped in and said, "Father, this won't be necessary. Nobody knows how to handle magic like Hermione. Her skills in witchcraft and wizardry hardly find a match among her peers."

Lucius kept smiling. "Oh really? How nice." He scanned her quickly. "I see you brought this book with you. Let me tell you, it covers by no means the full extend of Malfoy Manor's magnificent treasures. If you want to, I can assign a house elf to show you around a bit."

With the beginning of a sparkle in her eyes, Hermione nodded. "That would be too kind, Sir."

"Wonderful!" He turned around and looked at Snape who had been standing a bit off, his arms wrapped around his body. Lucius' smile got deeper and more genuine. "Severus. So good you could join us."

Snape nodded curtly.

An embarrassing silence spread out, which was interrupted by Narcissa. "Maybe we should go inside so that you can all move into your rooms. Dinner will be served in about an hour."

Grateful to get out of this situation, the friends took their bags and followed the Malfoys inside. As they climbed up the broad staircase, George whispered to Ron, "I just hope we get double rooms. There's no way in hell I'm going to stay alone in that house!"

Ron nodded. "Tell me about it. This is just creepy. I wonder how Draco can endure this every day." His glance fell on Draco who was walking behind his father, frowning gloomily. Ron stopped and murmured, "Hm, maybe he doesn't..."

Harry passed Ron and nearly ran into him since he had been staring at the floor. "God, this is going to be terrible..." he groaned.

Hermione's excited squeal saved Ron from an answer. They quickly entered through the main door and caught a glimpse of what had caused her ecstatic exclamations of joy. Ron sucked in his breath at the sight of the large entrance hall. The candles were already lit and cast a mellow light on the polished wooden staircase that led up into the upper level. It was covered by a dark red carpet and split up at a landing. Right there was the mosaic that Hermione had mentioned and the light of the candles caused it to sparkle magically.

"Oh wow... this is really something," Ron said in a low voice, and Harry could tell that he was thinking about The Burrow this very moment. He knew exactly how he felt, because he was comparing this staircase to the creaky old stairs at Privet Drive with the dark closet underneath it as well.

Fred stepped next to them. "Man, this picture is weird." They all looked at the huge dragon in front of them. "I mean, look at it. What's it doing?"

Harry frowned. "I don't know. Looks like... like it's gnawing at something, or so. And are those skulls at its feet? Good Lord..."

With a nervous laugh, Ron said, "Now that's a dragon I don't want to go anywhere near, I tell you. I've never seen one like that. It must be humongous. I wonder if Charlie could tell..."

"It's probably fictitious." Harry swallowed. "At least I hope it is!"

About half an hour later they had made their way through the west wing of Malfoy Manor, moved into their rooms and were unpacking their stuff. Much to George's relief, they had indeed been assigned double rooms. Except for Hermione, of course, but she seemed to have set her concerns aside and was obviously highly pleased about her history-intensive room which she reported to Ron in colorful details as he took out his clothes and put them in the wardrobe. He was widely ignoring her, but that didn't really stop her.

"Oh Ron, it's marvelous, I tell you! The paintings in my room! One of them knows Agrippina personally!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! It told me some stories already! I really wonder if they're allowed to do that, I mean isn't this somehow private?"

"Uh-huh."

"Come to think of it, it's a good thing that modern photographs don't talk anymore. Wouldn't that be weird? Have an exact copy of you talk to you all the time? Can you imagine? Two of me? I wonder what we'd talk about..."

"What a thought!"

Hermione pushed herself away from the doorframe and went over to Ron. "Can't you cheer up a bit? Or do you want to be miffed all weekend long?"

With a sigh, Ron closed the wardrobe and leaned against it. "No... I'll get over this soon, I'm sure. I'm just tired and hungry and even the paintings in this stupid shack are snobby!"

"No, they're not!"

"Are too! When I took my robe out of the bag, this painting over there sniffed at it!"

Hermione stared. "You're making that up!"

"No, I swear! It was making fun at my clothes!" Ron went over to his almost empty bag now, zipped it up and pushed it under the bed with his foot.

Hermione sighed. "Oh Ron..."

They both looked at the bathroom door when it opened and Harry came out. "Wow, it's like the prefects' bathroom in there!"

Frowning suspiciously, Hermione asked, "What do you know about the prefects' facilities?"

"Uhm, not much, really... Just, well..."

A tentative knocking at the doorframe caught their attention.

"Draco!" Harry beamed and went over to meet him. He stopped himself before he gave into the urge to kiss his boyfriend. He looked around, scanning the room. "Is it safe?"

Draco smiled. "Yes, it is safe." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, pulling Harry close.

Ron cleared his throat audibly. "Just in case you haven't noticed us."

"Don't worry, I did," Draco replied, semi-coolly. Then he said to Harry, "God, it must have taken me ten minutes to come over here! That's so very much like my father! There would have been plenty of rooms in the east wing, but of course he pulled this little trick on us."

Harry pressed his sides. "I'm sure this wasn't his intention."

"Ha, I wouldn't be so sure."

The door burst open and the twins came in. "Ey, are you having a party in here, or what?" They looked around the room appreciatively. "Nifty. Ours is cool, too. George found a book on the shelves that reads bedtime stories to you, and when you're nice to the lady on the cover it tells you the naughty ones!"

Ron blinked. "How nice?"

"Well..."

Hermione stepped in. "I don't think we need to hear this here and now!"

George grinned. "It's really nothing, you just tickle her left.."

"Stop that!" Hermione glared and the twins snickered.

"You mean she has one...?"

"Oh yes, two even!"

Hermione squealed angrily and lifted her arm to whack the nearest twin over the head.

"Hm, maybe we should get ready," Draco suggested to prevent further eruption of violence. "Dinner will be served soon. It's almost seven." 

"Do we have to change clothes?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid yes," Draco said apologetically.

"Cool! We're already fine and dandy!" Fred brushed with his hands over his festive robe.

Ron growled. "I knew it!" He went back to the wardrobe to retrieve his maroon robe and the painting next to the bed snickered again.

"See? I told you!" Ron exclaimed, half triumphant, half embarrassed.

"Hey Fred, do you still have that pen marker?" George asked his brother, smiling evilly.

Draco tugged at Harry's sleeve and said, "Come on, let's go. I don't want to witness this."

They left the room and the anguished shriek of the painting followed them.

*******************************

Harry swallowed down the last bit of strawberry mousse, hardly registering it's exquisite taste. The tense atmosphere of this dinner made him lose his appetite. On his left, Draco was staring at his plate, moving the food around. Right next to him, at the head of the table, Lucius was sitting, rather observing his guests than eating. A silver goblet was resting between his fingers and he wore his distinctive almost-smile.

Harry couldn't help but acknowledge that Lucius Malfoy was a handsome man. He was tall and slender, and every curve of his well-defined body radiated a sense of power. He was dressed all in white and the silver linings of his shirt went extremely well with his hair. The large gemstone at his collar had the exact same color as his eyes, smoky gray.

To Lucius' left, Snape was sitting, thoughtfully twisting a glass of wine in his hands. He had hardly touched the food at all. He was clad in his usual black and formed such a tantalizing contrast to Lucius' bright appearance that Harry couldn't help wondering if this was intentional. Every now and then, Snape cast them an amused look, obviously delighted at both Harry and Draco's discomfort.

Next to Snape, with a bit of a distance to him, sat the twins and Ron. Hermione had been seated to Harry's right. Way at the other side of the table was Narcissa's seat. All evening long, she hadn't taken part in any of the conversation, and it made people wonder whether she was really present at all. Only her occasional movements to supervise the serving of food proved otherwise.

Harry was pulled out of his reverie when Lucius put the goblet aside with an audible sound. Having everyone's attention that way, Lucius said markedly cheerfully, "So, Harry, why don't you tell me the story about how you two came to be... friends?"

"Well, it was..." Harry started, but Draco interrupted him.

"I already told you everything, father!"

Lucius smiled. "I know. But I would like to hear Harry's version as well." He adjusted the glove on his right hand and then laced his fingers together and looked over them at Harry, expectant amusement in his eyes.

The hunted look that Draco gave him made him swallow nervously, and his mind started to race. How could he tell this so that it was the least prone to contradictions? He had no idea what Draco had told his father, and when. A brief feeling of anger flooded him. Draco never told him anything!

"Well, as I've been meaning to say, we've known each other for ages now, as you know. First, we didn't get along too well. You could even say we hated each other. But then, one day we noticed that we had, eh, similar interests." To his own dismay Harry felt the heat crawl up his cheeks and he fought it back. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Ron and the twins pretending not to be there at all.

He directed his attention back to Lucius who was still looking at him intently. "Anyway, so we got to know each other better and realized that we could be something like friends."

Lucius looked at him for a painfully long time and then said, "How touching. My boy certainly needs more friends like you."

The sound that Snape made sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, but he muffled it with his napkin as he pretended to wipe this mouth. Lucius threw him a cold look, which he returned stoically.

Harry felt the muscles in his back relax when Lucius took his attention off him, and he almost wanted to moan in relief. He noticed that his fingers were clamped into his napkin and it took him some effort to relax those, too.

"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione suddenly asked carefully.

With a partially annoyed frown, Lucius turned his head and raised an eyebrow as the only answer.

"I have been wondering, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione continued unimpressed, "if you could explain some of the Malfoy history to me? The book I brought covers some periods only sporadically, and I find that there are some extremely interesting ancestors of yours that I'd love to hear more about. I'm writing a paper on important wizard families and their influence on the wizarding art culture and this can't be done without Malfoy Manor's treasures." Harry could have kissed her.

The smile that spread on Lucius' face was genuinely pleased, like the one of a man whose ego had just been stroked. He looked at Hermione with much more interest than he had before. "Why of course. I'll be happy to give you all the necessary information."

Hermione beamed back at him, giving Harry a quick side glance. "Thank you, that's very nice of you, Sir."

Narcissa put away her napkin gracefully and got up. Lucius rose as well, looking at his wife questioningly. "I think I will retire now, if that's all right with you, Lucius." She gave a small smile at the group. "It's been an enlightening evening."

"Of course, Narcissa. Sleep well." Lucius waved at her laxly and sat back on his chair again, not giving his wife a second glance as she left the room.

The silence spread again. Ron cleared his throat and immediately ducked back into the folds of his robes again when everybody looked at him.

Trying to save the day, Draco put his napkin down as well. "Maybe we should call it a day? We're all quite tired from the trip, right?" Everybody was nodding frantically. "I'm sure you don't mind, father."

Lucius gave him a probing look, then nodded slowly. "It's quite all right with me, son, I understand." He turned in his chair, looking at Snape. "My old friend Severus will keep my company, won't you?"

Snape hardly showed any reaction, except for his short affirmative nod.

Then Lucius said to Harry with a cool smile, "Have a pleasant night, Mr. Potter."

*******************************

The soft breathing next to him told Harry that Ron had finally fallen asleep. After they had returned to their rooms, Ron had spent at least half an hour moaning how awful this dinner had been and Harry really hadn't been able to object. If a boggart were to burst out of the closet this very minute, it probably would have the form of Lucius Malfoy with a plate of assorted seafood appetizers.

Harry carefully got up and went to the wardrobe, careful not to wake up Ron. He retrieved his Invisibility Cloak, which he had brought along, already expecting that it would come in handy. Next to him, the painting of a bearded lady stared at him gloomily, but didn't comment as he threw the Cloak over his head.

He had to admit, he felt a bit scared as he walked along the dark corridor. It was ghostly silent. Now and then a torch illuminated the hall and only added to the spooky atmosphere. When they had returned from dinner, Harry had watched closely to see in which direction Draco disappeared. Now he tried to reproduce this.

Soon he found the main hall again where the magical chandeliers spread a beautiful golden light. Harry felt a bit more secure. He moved over the carpet light-footedly, always afraid that someone could be coming out of one of the many doors. In the east wing he had to rely on Draco's description to find the room he was looking for. He noticed in the passing that where the west wing with the guest rooms had been very luxurious already, the east wing was decorated in abundance with all sorts of symbols of immense wealth. It made him feel insignificant.

He swallowed down this feeling when he arrived at the door that he hoped was Draco's. Pressing his head against the door didn't help much to determine the person inside. Maybe Draco was asleep already? Harry decided to just pretend he wasn't there, should somebody other than Draco open. He knocked carefully.

It took Draco a solid minute to answer the door. He appeared wrapped up in a dark green silk robe, toweling his wet hair as he peered through the crack in the door. "Hello?" He blinked, confused, and was already going to close the door again, when Harry pushed the door open and slipped past Draco into the room.

Draco swung round with a "Hey!", looking alert.

Harry yanked the Cloak off his head and put his finger to his lips. "Sssh! Close the door!"

Ogling at him, Draco asked, non-plussed, "Harry?!" He pushed the door shut again.

"Yes, it's me!" He pulled the Cloak completely off his body. "I'm sorry if I scared you." He readjusted his glasses and ruffled his hair, not really changing much about it.

Draco smiled. "Nah, it's okay. I was just surprised." He came closer, reaching for the Cloak. "Wow... is this what I think it is?"

With a proud smile, Harry nodded. "Yes, it is!"

Amazed, Draco let the delicate fabric run through his fingers, testing its structure and admiring the invisibility effect it had. All the while, Harry stared at his boyfriend's long white fingers, thinking about what miracles they could do on his skin. He blushed a bit.

Draco looked up and saw Harry's blush. With a smile, he dropped the Cloak and covered the distance between him and Harry, pulling the other boy in a tender embrace. "Now that's a pleasant surprise," he murmured, pressing a kiss on each of Harry's cheeks. "I didn't expect to see you again tonight."

"I couldn't stay away..." Harry confessed.

His smile deepening, Draco said, "That's good." He kissed Harry on the lips, deeply and gently. When Draco released him again, Harry felt a bit dizzy and stumbled backward to get a hold of something which accidentally turned out to be Draco's bed. He lost his balance and dropped on it.

Draco followed him immediately and covered Harry's body with his, a sexy grin on his lips. "Oh, this is what you came for, hm?"

Harry turned crimson. "No! I mean..." He swallowed, feeling his boyfriend's hot body so close. "Maybe..."

"Definitely." Draco leaned down to kiss Harry again, this time more persistently. "Remember what I said about those white sheets?" He moved his head to nibble at Harry's throat, letting his tongue trace along the collar bone.

Harry pressed his head into the pillows, groaning helplessly. "What... what about your father?"

"He's far away at the other end of the corridor," was the muffled reply that came out of the folds of Harry's robe. "You can scream all you want to..." With that he proceeded to demonstrate his claim.

Later, Harry was lying in Draco's arms, sleepy from the passion he had just experienced, replaying it in his brain. How soft and cool the silk sheets had felt at his back, such an enticing contrast to Draco's warm skin, the scent of flowers that seemed to have emanated from the folds when he had buried his face into them and the soft rustling as they moved underneath the cover, their pants and whispers mingling with the sound.

He loved the sensation of Draco's smooth chest under his hand and cheek, loved to hear the steady heartbeat and feel his head move up and down with each breath Draco took. That was how it's supposed to be.

A gently nudge at his shoulder pulled him out of his reverie. "Harry? Harry, you can't sleep. You have to get back to your room."

Harry groaned. "I knew this had a catch..." He didn't move right away but allowed himself to doze a bit more in the luxurious warmth of his boyfriend and Draco let him, calmly stroking his back. Then he prodded his nose, whispering, "Sleepy head... rise and shine!"

With a sigh, Harry sat up, groping blindly for his glasses on the nightstand. After he had put them on and Draco moved into clear view again, he caught him smiling at him. "What?"

"Oh, I just thought you look cute without your glasses."

Harry responded with a blush. He looked to the side, just now taking in the interior of Draco's room completely. He was surprised to see that it looked like a normal boy's room. Well, maybe a bit nobler than the average teenager's room with the mahogany wood and the delicate carvings in the furniture, but still rather normal. Tasteful choice of colors, some nice paintings, a bookshelf that was bulked with various objects, rather than books... Nothing notable. A door at one side of the room led to a bordering bathroom. Pinned to the wall next to the bed were a couple of Quidditch posters.

Harry raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Oh, you like the Warwick Warriors?"

Looking a bit comfortable, Draco said, "Nah, I just forgot to take them off. I've put them up two years ago or so..."

Smiling at Draco's embarrassment, Harry said, "It's okay to like Quidditch teams, you know?"

Draco snorted. "Pah, I only put them up to cover up some spots on the wall. Hardly ever watch any..."

"Oh I see," Harry drawled, nodding serenely. "Hey, I like the Chudley Cannons, do you see me blush?"

"The Cannons?!" Draco looked at him, shocked. "But they're a lousy team! They didn't even make it to the playoffs last season! Ever since they got that Italian coach their performance dropped considerably---" Draco stopped, catching Harry's grin. He frowned. "Okay, so I like watching Quidditch. Is that a crime?"

"I'm not saying anything." Harry shook his head softly. "It's you who acts as if it were something to be ashamed of."

Draco looked away. "Guess you're right," he said flatly. "I just always think it's something you have to hide. My father..." he stopped, taking a deep breath. "My father always told me that you don't waste your time with things like that. Better practice and perform well yourself. No use gawking at some team."

"I understand..." And Harry really did. He knew how it was to grow up in a hostile environment where nobody understood and supported you. He reached out and pressed Draco's hand reassuringly, but Draco was in one of his moods again. Harry sighed. "Looks like I have to go..."

Draco just nodded.

Harry waited a bit, then shrugged and got out of the bed, not minding his nakedness. He quickly put on his clothes and then bent down to pick up the Invisibility Cloak. He turned to Draco, but he seemed to be lost in his own world.

Shaking his head sadly, Harry threw the Cloak over his shoulders. "Night then," he mumbled. He was almost at the door when Draco's voice held him back.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

Draco got up and walked over to him, looking at him seriously. "Thank you."

"For what?"

Draco just shrugged. "For everything."

"Don't mention it." Harry smiled and turned to the door.

"Wait, I'll let you out. Looks less suspicious." Draco went past him to the door. He grabbed the doorknob and took a last look at Harry, tugging at the Cloak a bit to make sure that it covered everything. "See you tomorrow then."

Harry walked outside, turning around one last time to look at Draco and tell him that he loved him, but when he was just about to do so, a door opened, way at the other end of the corridor. Harry froze. Lucius Malfoy came striding out of his room, stopping dead when seeing the light coming from Draco's room."

"Draco!" he said sharply. Harry didn't dare to move. "What are you doing up so late?"

Draco looked at the empty spot for a moment where Harry stood, then said, "Nothing, father. I just thought I'd heard a noise. I'll go back to bed now. Good night."

Lucius gave him one last scrutinizing look before he said, "Good night, my son. Sleep well."

Draco's door closed and Harry was left in the darkness, only the small cone of light that came from Lucius' room casting an eerie light at the ghostly white man. Harry didn't dare to move or even breathe in fear of giving himself away. Lucius still stood glued to the spot, watching Draco's door thoughtfully.

Suddenly a shadow fell on Lucius when a second person appeared at the door. Dark and threatening he moved next to Lucius. Harry almost gasped when he recognized Snape. What was he doing in Lucius' private quarters?

Lucius turned to him stoically and said, "He's gone now. We can go."

Snape responded with a nod, closing the door to Lucius' rooms. They came toward Harry who pressed himself against the wall, hoping they wouldn't touch him accidentally. When they were past him, he fought with himself for a moment, not sure whether he wanted to take the risk and follow them, or rather wait until everything was clear and then go back to his room. His curiosity won.

With some distance to the two men, he sneaked after them, trying to listen to what they said, but he was too far behind. They stopped at the stairs and turned to each other and Harry finally managed to catch some of their words.

"... takes some time," Snape said.

"Yes, I know!" Lucius replied impatiently, crossing his arms. Suddenly, he sucked in his breath and extended his hand again, exposing a bandage across his right hand.

Snape took the hand surprisingly careful and inspected it. "I told you not to touch the lye," he said tenderly. "If you had done it at some other stage, you could have ruined everything."

Lucius pulled away his hand. "Let's go."

They walked down the stair, stopping at the landing. Lucius did something to the mosaic that Harry couldn't see, since he hadn't dared following them down the stairs for fear of making a noise. There was a soft rumbling noise and a hidden door at the mosaic swung open into which Lucius and Snape disappeared.

Harry stared at the mosaic for a while, utterly confused. After a while, he dared to go down the stairs and take a closer look. He couldn't see for the love of God where the door was hidden. It must be something magical. He wanted to touch the mosaic, but that would have meant that he needed to take his hand out from under the Invisibility Cloak and he didn't want to take that risk.

Realizing that there was nothing else he could do, Harry decided to go to bed. He'd have to talk about this with the others tomorrow.

***

~ to be continued in 'Part 3: Fehu' ~

May '01

Annotations:  
Some people have asked me who the people on the cover art are. At this point, I cannot answer it yet, but soon you will know ^_^. I promise, this is getting more interesting soon! Honestly! Sorry it took a while to finish this part. I had another creative low.  
Thank you to all of you who have reviewed so far. You won't believe how much this means to me...


	4. Fehu

Untitled Document

Summary: Will Harry and Draco every get over their differences? And who's the one lying?  
Rating: PG

************************************

**Son of the Dark**  
by Silver 

~ Part 3- Fehu ~

The next morning Harry woke up to an angry face hovering over him, and he bolted upright with a yelp, almost knocking his head against Ron's.

"Damn you, Harry, you left me alone in this room last night!"

Harry blushed. "I had to see Draco..."

Ron huffed and sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. "Couldn't you last at least a few frigging hours? You can get more of that when you're at Hogwarts!"

With a shrug, Harry replied, "Yes sure, but I wanted to see his room, too."

"Oh..." Ron stared at his bare feet for a moment. "And how is it?"

"The room?" At Ron's nod, Harry smiled and said, "Normal actually. Like an average teenager's room, really. Well, a teenager who happens to have wealthy parents."

Ron nodded curtly and dug his toes into the fold of the bedside rug.

"But it's really normal," Harry said, trying to cheer up his friend. Then, elbowing him, he added, "Hey, he likes the Warwick Warriors, can you believe that?"

Ron stared in disbelief. "No shit." Then he grinned. "You'd think he would at least have the sense to like a decent team!"

Harry laughed. "See? Money can't buy you everything." He sobered immediately, when the events of last night suddenly came back to his mind. Lucius and Snape... "Ron, last night---" he started, but was interrupted when the twins burst in.

"Good morning, your wake-up call!" Fred yelled cheerfully, then upon eyeing Harry and Ron he exclaimed, "Aha! I knew it!" pointing one finger at them.

Ron lifted his eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you say, Fred," George said. "Maybe we should tell Draco. You think we could score?" The twins nearly died laughing at Ron's crestfallen expression.

Harry, however, didn't fall for the joke. "Don't you dare!" he said jokingly. "Draco's mine!"

George grimaced. "Too bad."

Shaking his head, Ron mumbled, "I still don't get it."

With a short laugh, Harry got up and started getting ready while the twins kept teasing Ron, but refusing to clue him in. Ron's frustration tolerance lowered with every minute that passed. They picked up Hermione and continued on their way downstairs. Near the main hall, Ron finally got the picture.

"What?!? You thought Harry and I...? You sick, dirty bastards!" He picked up a poker from the fireplace and followed the twins who dashed off at once. Pulling his head in when Ron slashed the air with his weapon, Fred yelled at his twin, "If you ask me, George..." He jumped over a small stool. "... it's sexual frustration that bothers our little brother here."

Ron howled in anger and launched himself at his brothers who avoided him nimbly.

"I agree!" George said between pants. They circled a delicate statue and Harry had already closed his eyes in anticipation of the crash. When the noise didn't come, Harry opened them again reluctantly, following the mad chase with a concerned frown.

Draco joined them, hands on his hips. "Good morning. Did I miss something?"

"Not really." Harry shook his head absent-mindedly, too engrossed in watching his friends to actually get into detail. That very moment, George dodged a blow from the poker and knocked over am expensive-looking vase from a column. "George, watch out!" Harry yelled, but Hermione had already thrust forward her arm, calling the vase into her safe hands.

"Wow, that was fast!" Draco said appreciatively and was rewarded with a proud smile as he took the vase from Hermione's hands with a relieved sigh and put it back.

Fred bombed out at the Persian carpet when he fell on it and was overrun by his brothers. The carpet fidgeted indignantly and wrapped the boy into a tight burrito. Stepping over his immobile brother, Ron now had George cornered. "Do you know what the punishment for buggery was in the middle ages?" he murmured menacingly, brandishing the poker in front of George's face.

Not even slightly impressed, George pushed it away and said with a grin, "I'm not a bugger! I'm an equal opportunity lover!"

The same moment, the door to the dining room opened and Snape and Lucius emerged with slightly annoyed expressions on their faces. Ron's face took the color of his hair, trying to hide the poker behind his back, then noticing that he had George's neckline in a strangling grip and releasing the fabric at once. He smoothed it out with his free hand, patting George's shoulder and smiling nervously.

"What's all this noise?" Snape asked coolly.

"Siblings quarreling," Draco answered, unimpressed, as he stepped over the roll formerly known as Fred to get into the dining room, closely followed by Harry who was completely embarrassed and staring at the floor.

Ron put away the poker with a last glare at George and followed Harry's example, not making any eye contact with Snape or Lucius.

"Oy! Don't mind me!" Fred's muffled voice rang out when George stepped over him as well. "I'm having a grand time here!"

Hermione got on her knees and nudged him. "Do you want me to help you out?"

"Nah, I'm fine! Just put some tea in a saucer and I'll lap it up!"

With a chuckle, Hermione started rubbing the carpet's underside, causing it to squirm and slowly release its grip. "See? Now you're glad I've been reading all these books about magical furniture."

"Yeah, whatever," Fred replied gruffly.

The carpet unfolded, producing a tousled and flushed twin. "There you go."

"Thanks." Fred got up and brushed the dust out of his robe. "Uhm, Hermione..."

"Yes?"

"What did the people in the middle ages do to them?"

Hermione smiled sweetly. "The 'buggers'? Insert a white-hot spit into their anus."

Fred sucked in his breath. "Ouch!"

"Oh yes!"

When they finally joined the others in the dining room, everybody already was seated at the table, helping themselves with pastry and other fine foods.

Harry looked around the room, noticing that it was a different one than the room they dined in last night. This one had large French doors that allowed the warm morning sun to flood the room and tint everything in a soft golden shine.

Snape, apparently finished with his breakfast already, was occasionally nipping at his cup of black coffee while reading a book. Lucius stood at the French door and looked outside into the extensive gardens. He held a delicate cup full of tea in his left hand. Harry's glance fell on the gloved hand and he swallowed, remembering mysterious events of the previous night.

After a few minutes, Lucius left his spot and sat down on his usual chair. He appeared to be a bit annoyed, but covered it well enough for Fred and George not to read the signs. When they started their usual horsing around at the table, Lucius' frown deepened and he put away his cup, the silver spoon jumping out of the saucer and clattering over the table.

"Mr. Weasley," he said with a snide voice. The table fell silent. When he had the attention of every male Weasley present, he nodded. "Yes, all of you." He laced his fingers together. "I don't know how it is at your home, but here in Malfoy Manor we try to keep the morning quiet and peaceful."

Ron's face flushed in a mixture of anger and embarrassment that Harry knew so well when his friend looked down, crumpling his napkin. The twins appeared to be rather unaffected by Lucius' admonition. Fred smiled brightly and replied, "Apologies, Mr. Malfoy. We didn't know the rules."

"Usually we get familiar with them before we break them," George added seriously.

Harry would have chuckled now, if he hadn't felt so tense. He cast a quick look at Lucius to see his stony expression. His glance fell on Snape whose eyes still were intent on his book, but the ghost of a smile appeared to lie on his lips.

A movement redirected Harry's attention to Lucius who had leaned forward, scrutinizing the twins with a strange curious interest all of a sudden. "Is your father proud of you, George Weasley?" he asked out of the blue.

George exchanged a confused look with his twin, then said, "Uhm, yes, I think so?"

"And your brother, does he always back you up?"

Growing uneasy, George started shifting on his seat. "Of course."

"So, you could say it's two for the price of one."

"I guess..."

"Good." Lucius leaned back with a smile, touching his fingertips to each other, apparently content for now. But before everyone could exhale in relief, Lucius dealt the next blow. "If one of you fails, there's still one more left of you, isn't there?"

Both twins stared, mouths open.

"If one of you failed, there'd always one more left. If something were to happen to one of you, the other could always take over. The perfect substitute..."

A gasp went through the room, and Draco ended the dismayed silence by exclaiming, "Father! You can't say that!"

Lucius gave his son a crushing look. "I can't? But it's true. It must be such a reassuring feeling for a father to know that there is always one son left to fulfil his destiny. It's not like your family's future rests in the shoulders of just one..."

Son and father exchanged a look so cold that Harry expected to see their breath hanging in the air any minute now. Their duel was over when Lucius got up abruptly, heading for the door. The door slammed shut behind him with a loud bang that echoed through the whole mansion.

When he was gone, the friends stared at each other, deeply shaken. Not the trace of a smile could be found on the twins' faces and it was as if someone had ripped the smiles from them, so unused was the sight.

Draco stared at the flower bouquet in the middle of the table, his whole body shaking from the effort to control himself. Harry gently touched his shoulder, but Draco shied back from him before he realized what he'd done. Harry pulled back his hand, feeling hurt, but not trying to make another approach.

Fred shook his head slowly. "It's not true..." he whispered. He looked at George, more serious than he had ever been. "It's not true, George." This time his voice was firmer, more determined. "You're no substitute. And neither am I. We are one. We are a whole, together."

George nodded, swallowing thickly. "I think we need a break." Without waiting for the others to reply, Fred and George got up and left the room through the French doors, wandering off into the gardens.

With an audible sound, Snape closed his book, bringing himself back to people's attention. He got up, the back of the book resting against his shoulder as he looked at Harry and Draco, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Be careful," he said, then left to follow Lucius.

"I've lost my appetite!" Ron said angrily and got up as well. "I'm going to take a walk!"

Harry nodded and watched his friend leave. He could tell that Hermione was wrestling her own inner demons. He smiled at her. "It's okay, Hermione. Go explore the wonders of Malfoy Manor. No need to stick around with us."

Frowning skeptically, she gave him a long, probing look. Then she nodded. "Okay. If you're sure..."

"Yes, go ahead!" Harry smiled when Hermione jumped to her feet, more than ready to get her books and start her exploration.

When they were alone, Harry just sat there for a while, not even moving much. He had been meaning to tell Draco about what he'd seen last night, but now it just didn't feel right. Frankly, he didn't even know what to say to Draco at all. The rejection still hurt.

It was Draco who finally broke the silence. "It's just the way he is," he said hoarsely. "He... he just thinks that way."

Harry frowned. He wasn't really defending his father, was he?

"He's probably right..." Draco murmured, barely audible.

"What?!" Harry's head whipped around to stare at his boyfriend in dismay. "He is _right_?" He took a deep breath. "How on _earth_ can you say that?"

Draco looked at him in a mixture of daze and confusion. As if he had just been woken up from a deep sleep. "What?" he asked meekly.

Harry no longer felt like being the voice of reason. "This... this man is hurting my friends, has been doing so repeatedly, and you actually have the nerve to say he's right?"

With a starting gleam of anger, Draco said, "You don't know him!"

"Damn right. And I'm not sure if I even want to!"

Slamming his fist on the table, Draco hissed, "Fine! Then don't! I certainly didn't ask you to be a part of my crappy life!"

The chair fell on the floor with a bang when Harry jumped up from his seat, staring down at Draco, fists clenched. "Bastard..." he choked, then turned around and rushed outside.

"I wish!!!" Draco yelled after him. Then he cried out in anger and wiped his hand over the table, sweeping down the delicate china.

*******************************

Harry was crying again, cursing Draco for making him, and Lucius for being the reason behind it, and himself most of all for being such a willing victim. He was sitting at the shore of the lake in the center of the Malfoy estate. The surroundings were neatly trimmed and cut, so there weren't many places to hide. Still, he had found a row of shrubs that covered him from the mansion's view, at least.

Usually, he would have enjoyed the park and everything, but right now he felt like jumping into the lake. A rustling noise startled him. When he looked for its source, he saw Hermione coming through the thicket, apparently looking for him.

"Harry?" she asked carefully.

He wiped the tears away with the back of his hand and nodded weakly.

"I heard from Draco that you two fought..."

At the mention of his boyfriend's name, Harry frowned. "Maybe it's not working..." he whispered gloomily. "We're so different."

Hermione sat down next to him and looked at him compassionately. "Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions? It was just one little fight."

Harry shrugged. "I know. But it's not just this, you see? It's so much... he has never told me that he loves me, did you know that? I keep telling him that I do, but he never says it back. And he fears to tell people about us. I've told all my friends, but he, he hasn't told a single person. He just doesn't care..."

"You know that's not true!" Hermione looked at him sternly. "He may have a hard time expressing his feelings, but are you really surprised, with a father like that?" She sighed. "If he really didn't care, do you think he'd be so miserable now?"

Harry hesitated.

"Besides," Hermione continues. "Whom could he have told about you anyway? He has no friends. You're the only one he has."

Suddenly, Harry began to feel very miserable. He buried his face in his hands. "Oh my God, Hermione, I'm such an insensitive klutz! And I even made it worse! How can I ever look at him again?"

"Just go back to him and all will be fine," Hermione smiled reassuringly.

Remembering Lucius Malfoy, Harry wanted to tell her about the secret door at the mosaic he saw last night, but a pair of black eyes staring at him caused the words to get stuck in his throat. "Who is that?"

Hermione looked around. "Oh... That's Mooky, the house elf to assist me." She grimaced.

The elf hopped closer. "Miss Granger, I couldn't find you anymore! Suddenly you were gone! Did you get lost?"

"No, Mooky. I just saw my friend and wanted to talk to him."

"Oh, okay," the elf piped and eyed Harry curiously.

There was no way he could tell Hermione with the elf present; he'd tell Lucius everything at once. Harry sighed in frustration.

At the other side of the lake, somebody else was groaning full of frustration as well. Ron was skipping stones over the clear surface of the lake, never managing to break his own record. He was positively bored.

"When you take the shiny black ones, they bounce better," a voice said behind him.

Ron turned to Draco, warily scanning him.

"No, seriously, the black ones bounce really well!" Draco picked one up and handed it to Ron.

"Thanks..." Ron looked at the stone in his hand, then at Draco. "What is it, are you running out of company?"

Draco frowned briefly, then said with a sigh, "Well, my father is an idiot and Harry hates me now."

"Rubbish!" Ron said immediately. "If Harry hates you, then I'm Snape's favorite student!" Then he added, smiling cheekily, "I don't know about your Dad, though. But as long as it isn't a dominant gene..."

They both laughed. The tension was broken. Ron turned to the lake again, throwing the black stone. It skipped beautifully, beating Ron's personal record by far. Ron cheered. "Yeah!!!" Then he turned at Draco with a suspicious frown. "Did you hex it, or something?"

Draco lifted his hands in innocence. "I didn't, I swear. They're just hydrodynamic."

Ron blinked. "Uhm, okay. But don't do it again."

With a laugh, Draco walked over to Ron. "Do you like it here at least a bit?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"The polite answer would be, 'Yes, it's nice!', but to tell you the truth, I feel as out of place an old sock on a fashion show." Ron shrugged. "But what can I say? I love Harry, and I want to see him happy."

Draco nodded slowly. "Me too." Looking over to the mansion, he got an idea. "Ron, come with me." He walked over to the smaller buildings behind the mansion. They crossed a large field to get there.

"Oh wow," Ron said dreamily. "This must be perfect for Quidditch practice..."

"It is. That's what it's here for."

"Oh..." Ron blushed.

They stopped in front of a small shed. Draco opened it and retrieved a broom. The handle was dark blue and polished. The name was written in it in silver.

"Awesome! A _Nightflyer Premium_!" Ron ogled at the racing broom.

Draco thrust it into Ron's hands. "I want you to have it."

"What??" Ron stared at him in dismay, clutching the handle.

"Don't worry. It isn't charity or anything. Consider it a long-term loan. I never get to fly it and it's a crying shame to let it rot away in the closet. Don't you think?"

Ron stared at the broom in his hands, tempted and indecisive. Then he nodded slowly. "I guess so... I mean, doesn't get any better in the closet, no? They need maintenance..."

"Exactly."

"And it wouldn't hurt to fly it a bit..."

"Not at all."

"So, I could just..."

"Ron."

"Huh?"

"Why don't you just hop on it and fly for a bit?"

Ron hesitated for another minute, then looked at Draco, grinning brightly. "Okay!" he cried and turned around, straddling the broom, and kicked off from the ground. The broom zoomed off and Ron laughed in delight.

Draco watched him, smiling and arms crossed over his chest, as Ron circled overhead, trying several neck-breaking stunts and obviously enjoying himself. When he saw Harry coming from across the lawn, Draco's smile faded and he stiffened. He walked to meet Harry halfway, uncertain for a moment. They looked at each other.

"Listen..." Harry finally began, but Draco interrupted him.

"No, me first." Draco raked his fingers through his hair, trying to find a suitable start. "I shouldn't have said the things I did. That wasn't right. And I didn't mean them."

Harry nodded, the ghost of a smile on his lips, understanding. "Okay. And I should have been more understanding. I'm sorry for that."

Draco stared at him in dismay. "Are you crazy? You understand me better than anybody else. Really, I'm such an idiot..." He sighed. "Let's not fight again, okay?"

"Okay..." Harry made a step toward Draco, but stopped himself in time, remembering where they were. So he just took Draco's hand and pressed it briefly.

Ron touched down next to them, his cheeks flushed with excitement. "Harry, Draco's letting me practice with his broom!" he reported happily.

"Really?" Harry replied, casting a surprised look at his boyfriend. "That's very generous."

"Isn't it?" Ron proceeded to praise the merits of the _Nightflyer Premium_, sounding like a small child and making Harry smile.

The bell rang that called them for lunch, and they all went inside. At the table, they were informed that Lucius and Snape would not be joining them since they were busy, and Narcissa was troubled by a bad case of migraine and staying in bed. Nobody really seemed to mind and enjoyed a relaxed meal for once.

Only Draco's face grew gloomy again and he said bitterly, "See? That's how he always does it. He says he wants to get to know my friends and then he never leaves his fucking office. I'm so tired of it..." He dropped his fork on the plate and leaned back in his chair. Suddenly he looked so lost and lonely.

Harry psyched himself up and touched Draco's hand. When the other boy looked at him, Harry leaned forward and placed a sweet, short kiss on his lips. "I'm here," he just said and Draco understood.

They spent the rest of the day together, watching Ron circle around on the _Nightflyer_ or just talking. Draco told Harry about his childhood and showed him his favorite places. Hermione only seldom crossed their path since she was being dragged around by the house elf and loving it. Every now and then she emerged from another door and reported what she'd seen, radiant, her eyes shining brightly and her cheeks glowing with excitement. Ron usually hit a tree at such moments, much to the twins' delight who were roaming across the estate, bonding and recovering from Lucius' cruel words.

When the evening was breaking, they were informed that dinner would be served shortly and the friends went up to their rooms, each in a different stage of despair, and changed into their good robes. They gathered in the dining room, nervously waiting for Snape and Lucius to arrive. Narcissa let herself be excused again.

Harry had already started to think that Lucius would ditch them again when the door swung open and Lucius waltzed in, a toothy smile on his lips as if he was going to a press conference. He zestfully slumped onto his seat and looked at his guests. "You must forgive me for earlier today. I was so busy, I couldn't leave my work for a minute. I'm sure you enjoyed yourselves anyway."

Draco shot Harry one of his "parallel universe" looks and gave a polite answer, obviously not willing to let his father off the hook that easily. Lucius, however, was oblivious to all this, pouring himself some wine, smiling thoughtfully.

The door opened and Snape entered, looking a bit tired. He quietly walked over to his chair and sat down, just taking a piece of bread and some tea. His face looked sallower than usual, if that was possible at all. Every now and then he cast a glance into the round of people sitting at the table, but mostly he stayed quiet, once even suppressing a yawn.

So the evening passed, none of the guests really willing to respond to Lucius' cheerful mood, except for Hermione who involved him in a lengthy discussion about the tapestries in the West Wing.

When it was time to go to bed, everyone readily excused himself and left, including Snape. Soon, only Draco and Harry were left. When Draco made no move at all to end this evening by himself, Harry decided to give up and excuse himself as well. Before he even got up, Lucius stopped him, asking him to stay around for a bit. Harry reluctantly complied.

"I just would like to take this moment to thank you for the friendship you give my son," Lucius said slowly, twisting his wine glass again.

That caught Harry unaware and he blushed a bit, before saying, "Uh, that's not necessary, really..."

"Oh, it is... it is..." Lucius trailed off, nipping his wine again. "I know you and my son are very close."

"What do you mean by that, father?" Draco asked, alert.

Lucius smiled. "Just as I said." He inspected the flowers on the table for a while. "Ironic, isn't it?" He looked up at Harry as if expecting that he could actually answer something to that. "All my adolescence, James Potter has hated my guts, always letting me know how little he thought of me, and all my life I've been waiting patiently to get it back to him, somehow..." He laughed dryly. "Looks like he got back to me after all..."

Harry and Draco exchanged a confused look, which Harry ended with a shrug. "I'll be going to bed now." Hardly waiting for Lucius weak nod, he got up and literally fled out of the room.

*******************************

Ron was already fast asleep when Harry got to his room. This confused him a bit, having expected he'd get to talk with his friend for a bit, but then he figured that all the flying on the broom and trying out the most adventurous maneuvers were taking their toll out of Ron.

So he sat down on the bed for while, reflecting on the day. Somehow, he felt like Draco and he had grown closer together today and also that his friends had finally started to take a liking in his boyfriend. That was good... What really bothered him, though, was the fact that he hadn't managed at all to find out what Lucius and Snape had been up to last night. There always seemed to be something in the way of any investigation. It must have been jinxed.

He sighed, looking at the large clock at the wall. Trusting that it wouldn't play some trick on him, he realized that he had spent more than one and a half hour revolving the thoughts in his brain. He jumped out of the bed and quickly got his Invisibility Cloak. Draco was probably in bed already, but he was willing to give it a try. He suddenly felt so lonely.

Sneaking through the quiet mansion, he soon arrived in front of Draco's door. He knocked gently. No answer. He knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing. Harry didn't dare make more noise for fear of stirring someone other than Draco.

It looked like his boyfriend was asleep already. Harry felt terribly depressed, having missed out on the last chance to be with Draco on fresh white sheets. He turned around and started walking back to his room. He was halfway down the corridor when a noise made him stop. He froze in the middle of his movement.

A tall man appeared in the light of the main hall and threw an eerie shadow on the floor, almost touching Harry's feet, causing him to swallow and involuntarily take a step back. The man stepped out of the light and Harry could see that it was Snape. He looked to the side, waiting from someone.

Harry almost gasped when he saw Draco step next to him, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his robes. A feeling of raging jealousy over came him as he watched Snape touch Draco's shoulders. He gently pushed him into the direction of his room and Draco started to move. When he was sure that Draco was actually walking towards his room, Snape turned around and left.

Harry's heart was beating in his chest like a sledgehammer. What was going on here? Was Draco doing it again? Hadn't he been able to resist temptation after all? Harry swallowed thickly, fighting back all the weird thoughts that came to his mind, and he stumbled to meet Draco on the corridor. Of course, he didn't see him and ran into him, spinning around with a gasp. Draco looked around, utterly confused and disorientated.

"It's me..." Harry whispered.

"Who?" was the confused answer.

"Me! Harry!" Getting impatient, Harry tore the Cloak off his head. "Where have you been?"

Draco blinked. "I don't know."

"You don't _know_?" Harry was baffled, the pain in his stomach starting again.

"I'm going to bed now..." Draco said flatly, heading for his room again.

"Wait!" Harry ran after Draco and held him back at the shoulder. "Do you think I'm stupid? Tell me what happened?"

Draco looked at him wearily, his face paler than usual. "I'm not feeling too well... tomorrow, okay?" With that he disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him, leaving Harry in the corridor, just a head, seemingly floating in midair with a face full of confusion and hurt. Suddenly, he wanted to bang his fists against the door, demanding an explanation, screaming at Draco, forcing him to talk to him. He didn't do any of this.

He wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.

*******************************

True to his expectation, Harry had hardly closed an eye all night. When Draco didn't appear for breakfast, the nagging feeling of sickness increased. Draco appeared just when they were gathering in the main hall to leave, the coach already waiting outside.

Draco came down the stairs, moving shakily, like a ghost. He looked around in the main hall, seeking Harry's eyes. He looked so helpless. Then he looked at his father, mumbling, "I'm not feeling well..." Suddenly, his knees gave in, and he would have fallen down the stair if he hadn't grabbed the banister.

All feelings of suspicion and betrayal gone, Harry rushed towards his boyfriend, completely casting all caution to the wind. He cupped Draco's pale face, feeling the dampness of his skin and noticing how his eyes were very glassy and empty.

"Draco!" he called out, stroking back his hair. "What's wrong with you?"

"Sick..." Draco mumbled with dry lips.

Harry looked around, seeking for help. His friends looked just as shocked as him. Lucius' face was gray, and Snape frowned, his expression unreadable.

It was Snape who finally woke from his paralysis and walked over to Harry. "We'd better bring him back to Hogwarts quickly. I think Madame Pomfrey will know best how to treat him." He threw Harry a strange look, then got to his knees and took Draco into his arms, carrying him outside and into the coach.

Harry followed in a daze, barely finding enough words to say good-bye to Mr. Malfoy properly. All he could think of was Draco, his Draco, who was ill for no apparent reason. Much to his relief, his friends backed him up on this and soon they were all safely seated in the coach, heading back to Hogwarts.

Holding Draco's cold fingers, Harry looked at Draco's sleeping face. "What happened?" he asked shakily, but Draco didn't hear him.

***

~ to be continued in 'Part 4: Lagu' ~

June '01

Annotations:  
I'm still pondering whether I should keep this story clean or not. Part of my wants to add a bit more passion, but the other one wants to keep the rating down... what do you think? Drop me a line, I really appreciate input! ^_^

Huge thanks to norty, who's such a great friend and beta, too! *hugs*


	5. Lagu

Untitled Document

Summary: When uncertainty becomes unbearable, a dark secret is revealed.  
Rating: PG

************************************

**Son of the Dark**  
by Silver 

~ Part 4- Lagu ~

"Oh, just let me die..." Draco moaned as he lifted his head out of the bucket, wiping the vomit off his chin. He dropped back onto the pillows of his bed in the infirmary and closed his eyes.

Harry sat on a stool next to him and gently brushed a strand of damp hair off his boyfriend's face. "Are you feeling better now?"

"No..." was the whiny response.

With a slight frown, Harry asked, "And Madame Pomfrey really has no clue what this could be?"

Draco shook his head weakly.

"It's not the stomach flu, is it?"

"Don't think so..."

"Food poisoning?"

"No... ungh. Don't mention... food." Draco managed at the very last second to bend over and empty his stomach once more into the bucket that magically absorbed its contents every time it was filled.

"Poor baby..." Harry cooed and wiped his boyfriend's sweaty face with a wet washcloth. "See? That's love..." He paused for a moment, pushing away all the questions that were on his mind and focusing instead on making the one he loved feel better.

Draco didn't answer anyway, but continued to moan with a tortured look on his face. "I must look awful. Look at my hair!" he snivelled, touching a sticky strand with a disapproving frown.

Harry smiled lovingly. "You look fine. You look like you need help which I'm happily providing."

Not particularly convinced, Draco sank back into his pillow and pouted.

Harry couldn't help himself and teased, "And the sickness doesn't even harm your complexion. You're still impeccably white."

"Idio---" It was cut off by another gush Draco barfed into the bucket.

"See? That's the punishment for being vicious."

Draco glared, but decided to suffer in silence from now on. His performance was interrupted by Fred and George who came bursting through the door.

"So, where's the patient?" Fred yelled.

From the adjoining room, Madame Pomfrey's sharp "Sssssh!" could be heard.

Draco opened half an eye and groaned. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see how you are."

"You know? Now that we've seen your bunny slippers we kinda..." George rubbed his knuckles together in a vague gesture, "...bonded."

Furling his brow, Draco grumbled, "Don't take me for a fool, you came to gloat at me."

The twins didn't even pretend to look contrite. "Well, yeah, but we brought candy! See?" Fred produced a box of chocolates he'd been hiding behind his back, thrusting it under Draco's nose.

The reaction was immediate. With a groan, Draco plunged head first into Harry's lap who held the bucket.

Fred and George eyed him with mischievous curiosity. "Oh wow, have you seen that bucket, Fred? How does it do that?" George looked at Draco. "Have you ever tried dumping something else..."

"I wonder where the stuff comes out..." Fred mussed.

Harry interrupted the twins with a stern look. "Don't even think about it!"

Smiling apologetically, Fred said, "Too late..."

Harry sighed. "Well, then promise me not to think about it again!"

"Aw, come on...! Harry, we---"

"Will you all just leave me alone?!?"

All heads turned to look at Draco who was all his efforts to slowly waste away and die being thwarted.

Fred grinned. "We were going to leave anyway. Not very flattering to have someone puke his guts out when you enter the room."

"Yeah, we know we can have quite an impact on people, but you're taking it a bit too far." Warbling a "cheerio-ooooh!" in unison, both twins left the room.

Harry felt a bit indecisive. "Want me to go, too...?"

Rolling onto the side, Draco mumbled a soft "Uh-huh..." and closed his eyes. "I need my rest."

Trying to be understanding and not to feel too hurt, Harry mumbled a soft "all right..." and got up from his chair, turning to leave. Suddenly, Draco's cold fingers closed around his wrist and held him back. Harry met the tired look of silver gray eyes with a questioning eyebrow.

"Harry, I..." Draco sighed, his eyelids drooping. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

"For... being who I am." Draco was asleep before Harry could answer.

With a loving smile, Harry stroked back Draco's damp hair and whispered, "No need to be."

*******************************

By the next week, Draco had recovered from his "indisposition" and things went their usual way. Every now and then, Harry tried to broach the topic of that mysterious last night at Malfoy Manor, but he never got anything out of Draco. The array of reactions he got ranged from fierce stubbornness to displays of utter confusion. Most of the time, Draco stuck with his version of not remembering what had happened, but sometimes he also got very defensive with Harry's persistent poking.

"I don't know why you keep on bugging me, Harry!" he'd say then, his eyes sparkling in a menacing silver. "You act as if there was some huge conspiracy going on and I'm in the middle of it. Will you just cut that out?"

And Harry usually did, although the nagging feeling remained.

One afternoon, Harry was sitting leaned against a tree near the lake, staring out at its clear surface. He was deeply in thoughts. A squirrel had found its way out of the Forbidden Forest and looked at Harry, nose quivering curiously. This pulled him out of his brooding mood and he smiled, throwing a dry crust of bread he'd been holding listlessly in his hands at the small animal. The little rodent picked it up and scurried off into the direction of Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

Harry sighed softly. He was wondering if he wasn't just imagining it all. Maybe Draco was just a little confused. After all, there had been quite a few changes in his life. Maybe he was confused about being in love with Harry and maybe he was worried about his father's possible reaction. Or maybe he found it hard to give up his old lover...?

Frowning darkly, Harry sat up. This had to stop. These doubts were poisoning his own feelings and they were driving a wedge between Draco and him. It was no use trying to talk to Draco, at least not with the knowledge he had at this point. And the only chance of changing this was having a talk with the only other person who could give him the answers he wanted: Snape.

It took him all day to work up enough courage to finally walk down to the dungeons. Somehow he had hoped to run into Snape in the hallway and elicit some information from him, but the casual encounters never happened. Actually, this seemed to be the case ever since they had returned from Malfoy Manor. Where Snape had been secretive and solitary before, now he was downright committed to hermitage. Another reason for Harry's bad feelings.

Now, standing in front of Snape's classroom, Harry suddenly started to doubt. What did he expect? That Snape would smile and admit to his revived affair with Draco? Thinking about it, he probably would. Ever since Draco - allegedly - broke up with him, Snape had been trying to get back at them somehow. Nothing could be more delightful for him than rubbing salt into Harry's wounds. So, how much could Snape's words be worth?

Harry was almost ready to turn back again, when he heard voices, muffled through the door of Snape's office that also led into the hallway. Feeling a little guilty, he pressed his ear against the cool wood, trying to make out the words that were spoken. He recognized Snape's voice, but he couldn't understand anything useful. Just a few detached words that didn't really make sense.

Snape's voice suddenly stopped and Harry took a hasty step back, not wanting to be caught in the act. A moment later, the door opened and Snape appeared in the gloomy twilight of his office. "Potter, what are you doing here?" he asked disapprovingly. Then he frowned. "I thought I had heard something..."

Harry blushed furiously. All his carefully laid out phrases suddenly seemed to have vanished in a cloud of confusion and bewilderment. He noticed Snape's curious getup, the green apron and the matching rubber gloves. His black hair was sticking to his face as if it had been exposed to humidity. A strange, acrid smell emanated from the office. Not really the perfect setting for a cozy rendezvous.

Realizing that he had to say something in return, Harry cleared his throat nervously and said, "I... er, wanted to talk to you, sir." That didn't sound too suspicious, did it? Sneakily, he added, "Are you alone?"

Snape's frown deepened. "Yes." His hands tightened over the edge of the door and he glanced to the side for a moment, then looked back at Harry. "What do you want?"

"I..." Harry swallowed. Now a plan really would have come in handy. "I... er, can I just come in for a second, please?"

His eyes widening for a moment, Snape shook his head curtly. "No. I'm busy. Is it that important?" He looked at this spot behind his door again, obviously really kind of occupied.

Cursing inwardly, Harry decided to give up for now. "No... I guess I'll just come back later then." He dropped his head and turned around. He heard Snape close and lock the door behind him without another word. This kindled Harry's defiance. He _knew_ Snape had been talking to someone! He had been telling a downright lie to him!

Taking all his courage, Harry carefully opened the door to the classroom and sneaked inside. He walked over to the adjoining door that connected the classroom to Snape's office. His heart started beating faster when he noticed the small cone of light coming from the door. It wasn't closed... He slid along the wall, not wanting to get into Snape's view by accident.

Pressed against the wall, he finally could make out the words Snape was whispering. "How pretty you are... you're perfect..."

Harry shuddered. He didn't want to know, he didn't want to see... and yet he had to. He had to know. He carefully lifted his head away from the wall and peered through the crack in the door.

Being prepared for the worst, he was somehow disappointed, seeing only Snape's back, the muscles moving under the black robe while he was busy working on something. He was still wearing that strange outfit. Harry shook his head. Maybe Draco was right and he was being paranoid after all.

Feeling ashamed about his silliness, Harry turned to leave again. He threw one last look at Snape and held his breath when he saw Snape move. He turned to the side, putting something on the table. Then he walked around the object of his attention and Harry suddenly started to feel very sick.

The naked body of a young man was revealed to Harry's eyes. All he could see was waist up, but it was enough for Harry to start to shake. The boy's white skin was shining softly in the candlelight of Snape's office and tousled white hair was just touching the shoulders. The state of the hair was the only thing that kept Harry from admitting to the obvious and so he kept staring, desperate that he was just being fooled by his rampant imagination.

With a soft smile on his lips, Snape ran his hands over the boy's sides, carefully feeling him up. The gloves gave a squeaking noise when he squeezed the shoulders tightly. "Wonderful..."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment. His heart was in pain. There was no use in denying it. This had to be Draco. But still... maybe it was all a huge misunderstanding. He opened his eyes again, almost screaming out in pain. Snape had tilted the boy's head to the side and now Draco's profile was clearly visible. He just stood there, his eyes closed, enjoying the caresses.

Harry couldn't bear the sight for a single second more and turned away, leaning against the wall in the darkness. Could there be a deeper pain than this? He stifled a sob, only managing it by tightly clasping his hand over his mouth, trying to fight back the tears. Not wanting them to be seen by them in the moment of his greatest pain, Harry stumbled out of the classroom, careful not to make a sound.

*******************************

Lying on his side, Harry stared out onto the lake. _Their_ lake. The lake where they usually met and made love when the weather allowed it. Somehow it felt ironic to return here after he just found out that their love had been a lie from the start, but this seemed to be the only place where he could find at least a little peace. Draco wouldn't be bothering him here, that's for sure.

Harry snivelled, another tear trailing down his cheek. He wiped it off impatiently. He would have thought he'd have been out of tears by now. He closed his eyes, shivering softly. How could Draco do that to him? With Snape of all people! The terrible thing was that he still loved Draco and that he still wanted him to be his. He couldn't imagine giving Draco up. How miserable was that?

A rustling in the leaves behind him made him tense. Someone was coming this way. How long had he been here?

"Oh, there you are!"

Harry closed his eyes at the sound of Draco's voice, forcing himself to show no reaction whatsoever.

"I've been searching for you all over! I thought we were going to do some Quidditch practice..." Draco sat down next to Harry, his breath slightly faster than usual. Looks like he had been running. Harry felt himself getting angry. How dare he, come here and pretend as if nothing had happened! Or rather, try to fool him that way. If Harry hadn't seen what he had, he never would have guessed.

Harry frowned bitterly. Yes, he wouldn't have guessed at all...

"Harry? You all right?" Draco asked softly, touching Harry's shoulder.

Shrinking away, Harry hissed, "Don't touch me!" He rolled over and sat up, staring at his boyfriend angrily. "Don't ever touch me again!"

Draco frowned in confusion. "Harry...?"

"Where have you been?" Harry asked flatly.

The frown deepened. "I've just been taking a walk around the lake. I had a few things to think about and ---"

Suddenly, Draco's head whipped back under the impact of a hand slapping his face. Holding his burning cheek, Draco stared at Harry in disbelief and yelled, "What the hell was that for?"

"You liar!" Harry screamed out, all the anger and pain inside of him burning for an outlet. "You cheating, stinking bastard! How could you do that do me?"

Draco's cheeks flushed in anger as he yelled back, "Do what? I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about!"

"Can't you at least be honest now, dammit?" Harry got to his knees, clenching his fists furiously.

"Honest about what?" Draco asked, exasperated.

This was too much for Harry to take and he lunged forward with raised fists. He knocked Draco over and they both fell into the grass, rolling until Harry was on top, banging his fists against Draco's chest. "I trusted you!" he cried out, tears rolling down his cheeks again. "I believed you!" He sobbed brokenly. "I hate you..."

Draco recovered from his stunned state and grabbed Harry's fists, holding them pressed against his chest. "Stop it, dammit! What's wrong with you?"

He didn't want to listen to any more lies, so Harry shook his head, trying to free his wrists from the tight clasp of Draco's hands. "No... let go of me! I hate you... I hate you..."

"No, you don't!" Draco yelled and the despair in his voice made Harry stop his struggling. Draco used this brief moment to throw Harry off his body and roll him over, pinning him down. "You don't hate me!" he said urgently, staring down at the other boy. "You don't, Harry! You don't..." He leaned down and captured Harry's lips in a raging kiss.

Harry groaned and tried to push Draco off, but his body betrayed him and refused to give up what it needed so much. He moaned softly, and the embarrassment of defeat made his tears flow even more.

Breaking the kiss, Draco whispered, "You love me, Harry. You do..." His fingers were shaking as he drew them over Harry's cheeks, wiping away the tears. His face was contorted by anguish.

"Yes..." Harry whimpered, hating himself for admitting this. "But it means nothing to you."

Draco groaned. "How can you say that? You know it's not true!"

"I do? What about Snape then?"

Draco stared at him in disbelief. "Snape?!? That's what this is all about? Harry, I've told you over and over again that I don't remember---"

"No!" Harry interrupted him angrily. "Why do you think I'm that stupid? I saw you! I saw you and Snape! Together! So, stop lying to me, for Christ's sake!"

"What? You saw us? When?"

"Just now! You were at his office!"

"But that's impossible!" Draco looked at him, full of urgency and persistence.

Harry frowned and turned his head. "Don't you know when it's time to stop..." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to fight back his urge to cry again. Why wouldn't Draco at least give him the credit of being honest when he was obviously busted? "At least I know when it's over..."

"No, dammit!" The obvious panic made Harry look at Draco again. "I won't accept this!" He pressed Harry's shoulders. "Do you really think I'd sleep with Snape?"

"You already did!"

"Yes, but that was before I knew that you loved me! I'd never jeopardize us, Harry. Never..."

There was something in Draco's voice that made Harry's heart less hard against his words. "But..."

"There's something fishy going on here and I'm going to get to the bottom of it!" Draco got up with a look of fierce determination on his face. He grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him up. "I won't let you go without a fight."

Reluctantly, Harry got to his feet as well, not particularly convinced, but still starting to doubt. If Draco was putting on a show, he was doing quite a good job of it. He followed the white-haired boy quietly, refusing to get involved in any conversation. They were only delaying the inevitable.

Draco didn't seem like he was up for chitter-chatter anyway. He walked with grim resolve, not faltering in his step until he was standing right in front of the door of Snape's private quarters. There, he turned around to Harry and said, "We'll get this settled once and for all!" He lifted his fist and knocked at the door.

Harry watched the door anxiously. Somehow he feared the revelations ahead. It seemed to take forever before the door opened slowly. 

Snape appeared at the door, looking at both boys with mild annoyance. Harry watched closely for any reaction on the potion master's face that could betray something. Snape had now changed into his casual robes that were tied around his hips, the cord dangling down at the sides. His hair was combed back, only a few strands falling into his face. Its wet shimmer in the candlelight revealed the fact that it had just been washed. A faint minty scent rose from Snape's clothes that was caused by the oil he used for his dry skin. Harry started to think that he had been imagining everything.

"What is it this time?" Snape asked testily.

Harry tensed, looking from Snape to Draco.

"We need to talk," Draco replied, just as curtly as Snape. He didn't wait to be let in, but pushed past Snape and walked into the room. Harry followed him, embarrassed and troubled by the fact that Draco was so familiar with Snape's rooms.

"What do you think you're doing?" Snape spun around and followed Draco, grabbing him by the shoulder.

Draco tore himself away and glared at Snape. "Tell Harry that there's nothing between us!"

"What?" Snape dropped his hand, lifting an eyebrow in puzzlement. He looked at Harry who was nervously fumbling with his robes. A wicked smile appeared on Snape's face. He stepped away from Draco, scanning him slowly, then walked over to his armchair and sat down, crossing his legs casually. "Why should I say such a thing?"

Clenching his fists, Draco snarled, "Because you're messing up my relationship with Harry and you're doing it on purpose!"

Snape bared his teeth in a smile. "I am? Hmm..." He hummed softly, inspecting his fingers. "I understand..." His eyes met Harry's. "Must be quite a strain on such a young love. The insecurity, the suspicion..." He laughed softly. "Right, Mr. Potter?"

Harry pressed his lips together, too tense to answer.

"Of course," Snape drawled, as if contemplating the situation, "It all makes sense now. Your little spectacle earlier on."

Draco gave Harry a questioning look which was answered by a deep blush. Draco sighed in irritation. "Will you just cut that out and tell Harry the truth?"

Snape's smile faded. "You want the truth, hm?" He gave Harry a challenging look. "Are you sure you want the truth?"

Harry swallowed and nodded. "Yes, I want it!" Anything was better than this feeling right now!

"And how do you know you can believe what I'm saying?" Not waiting for Harry's answer, Snape continued. "Very well, then..." He put his hands flat against the armrests, looking at Harry, calm and thoughtful, until Harry thought he couldn't stand the tension anymore. Finally, Snape put him out of his misery and said, "There is nothing."

"Liars!" Harry took a step back, shaking with anger. "Liars, both of you!"

Draco stared at Harry in dismay. "Harry... it's the truth!" He reached out to touch Harry's arm, but the other boy pulled away.

"You're both playing a trick on me! You probably agreed on what you'd say earlier on!" Harry just wanted to leave. He couldn't stand seeing either of them anymore. He turned to leave.

"No! You're staying here and we're going to sort this out!" Draco grabbed him and pulled him back. "I don't know what you want! You want the truth and yet you're not content when you get it!" Draco looked very angry now. His eyes were sparkling like melted silver. "Did you want to hear that it's true, so you've finally got a reason for all this? Is that it? Do you want to break up with me and are just looking for a valid excuse?"

Harry was now just as furious. "Yes, maybe I should! That would save me a lot of trouble!"

"I never said it was going to be easy!"

"You never say anything! You just take what you can get! You don't care a shit about me!"

Draco's hands clenched around Harry's shoulders, holding them in a painfully tight grip. "You know very well that this isn't true," he hissed.

"I do?" Harry laughed dryly. "I don't know anything anymore..." Both boys stared at each other angrily.

Without them noticing, Snape had gotten up, looking around between them curiously. When their argument ground to a halt, he quickly looked up to the clock at the wall and clicked his tongue. "Well, this is all very interesting," he said, "but I'd really prefer it if you sorted this out somewhere else..." He walked over to the door and opened it. "Move along, boys." He gave them a sticky-sweet smile that didn't reach his eyes as he hustled them out of the room. "If there's anything else, don't hesitate to call."

When the door closed behind then, Harry turned around, still wanting to get away from Draco. He should have known that this wouldn't help a bit. However, he didn't get far. Draco seized him and pressed him against the wall.

"No, Harry. I don't know what's gotten into you, but I won't take it! You're mi---"

"I'm what?" Harry looked up to him belligerently.

Draco sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "My lover, my friend," he said softly. He touched his forehead to Harry's, his voice barely more than a whisper. "I don't want to lose you..."

With Draco becoming vulnerable, Harry's anger crumbled to pieces. He realized that he didn't want to lose Draco either. He sighed. "How can I trust you any longer, Draco, when I know that you're lying to me?"

"But I'm not lying to you..." Draco said softly, brushing a kiss against Harry's lips. "I swear."

"I saw you... I saw you..." Harry repeated the line once more, moving his head to meet Draco's lips.

Draco kissed Harry gently. "What did you see?"

"You... and Snape. You were naked and he was touching you." Harry reached out to bury his hands in Draco's hair, already starving for the other boy's touch.

"When? And where?" Draco's breath was brushing over Harry's cheek as he ran his hands down the other boy's sides.

Harry sighed softly. "In Snape's office. A few hours ago."

Draco gently pushed Harry away and looked at him. "Then let's go there."

Before Harry could say anything, Draco grabbed him by the hand and pulled him along the dark corridor over to the Potions classroom. Of course the door was locked, so Draco took out his wand and whispered, "Alohomora." When the lock sprang open, he walked inside, trusting Harry to follow.

By the time Harry had caught up with Draco, he already had picked the lock to Snape's office and carefully pushed the door open, peering inside. Harry looked over Draco's shoulder. There was nothing suspicious about Snape's office. It looked eerie as always.

The boys stepped inside, looking around. The candles were burning at a lower level now, giving the room a ghostly light. Apart from that, everything seemed to be into place. "Lumos," Harry whispered and the candles flared up. He turned to Draco. "And what's the point of this?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Get to the bottom of this." He walked into the middle of the room, turning on his heels. "So, where did you see me?"

"Right there," Harry said, pointing to the spot where Draco was standing. They both looked to the floor. Harry noticed a puddle that had built up in a hollow of the stones. He got down on his knees and sniffed. The smell immediately reminded him of the moment when he had looked into the office a few hours ago. He stuck out one finger and dipped it into the liquid. With a yelp, Harry pulled back his hand. "Ow, damn!"

"What?" Draco asked, alarmed, and got down as well, taking Harry's hand. Whatever it was Harry had put his hand in, it felt like acid, scorching his skin and causing it to turn white where it had come into contact. "What the hell is this?"

Harry sucked in his breath, wincing at the burning pain. "Don't know..." He looked down at his hand as it was held by Draco and suddenly a flashback hit him: Snape holding Lucius' hand. "Draco..." he whispered. "Your father..."

"My father?!?" Draco stared at him, utterly confused.

Not knowing where to start, Harry licked his lips. "On the first night at Malfoy Manor, I saw your father and Snape..."

"Snape...?" Draco frowned.

"They... God, I don't know what they did! But---"

A noise made them spin around. "What was that?" Draco looked around warily.

"It came from over here..." Harry got up and carefully approached the door that probably lead to some closet. "Do you think we should...?" He placed his hand over the handle, unsure about what to do.

"Go ahead! It can't be Snape!" Draco stepped next to him, placing an encouraging hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded and gently pushed the door open, keeping a safe distance. The closet turned out to be another room, but it was so dark that they could hardly see anything. The light from the other room fell on a couple of shelves that held more bottles and objects for potion making. Harry looked at Draco who shrugged.

There was the noise again, a soft gurgle, like a fish moving in its tank. Harry fought the impulse to run for it and reached for one of the candles. He realized that his hands were shivering as he held the candle in front of him and finally stepped into the dark room. The acrid smell immediately was everywhere, making Harry feel sick. He took a careful look around. Another splatter made him spin to the left.

A large crystal tub that was filled with a strangely fluorescent liquid came into view. Harry squinted and moved the candle closer. The flicker of the flame crawled over the tub until it fell on a large object, white and slick, glistening in the soft light. It was the back of a human.

"What the hell..." Draco was suddenly next to him, a frown making his features look hard in the darkness. Harry just shook his head, taking a step closer. A terrible feeling of horror gripped him as he let his eyes wander over the boy cowering in the tub, hiding his face from them. The creature started stirring and there was the gurgle again.

Harry's breath caught in his throat as he watched the boy move over and slide on all fours, clumsy as a kitten. The tousled hair covered his face completely, but still goose bumps prickled all over Harry's skin.

He looked at the other boy carefully. The hair was white, completely white, without a trace or different shade of color. It even reminded a bit of glass, being somehow crystalline. The same was true for the skin. It looked like transparent paper, barely covering the veins and vessels in which the greenish shimmer of the liquid moved in the rhythm of a quickened heartbeat.

"What is this?" Draco repeated, his voice stricken with terror.

Harry couldn't speak. He moved the candle closer, almost touching the creature's hair.

Suddenly, the boy jerked his head with a groan, turning his face to the other boys. For a second, Harry stared into the creature's eyes, but they were the empty, colorless eyes of his boyfriend, a lost expression on his face, before Draco screamed out and tore back Harry's hand, causing him to drop the candle.

The candle fell on the tiles with a hollow echo, immediately wrapping them up in darkness. Harry spun around, the splatter of the creature moving behind him, Draco's hasty breath multiplying in the silence of his own shock.

"What's going on here?" The door to the office was yanked open and Snape's silhouette appeared against the light of the other room. He stepped inside and yelled, "Get out of here! At once!"

Harry had covered his face when the door flew open and banged against the wall, but now he dropped his hands and glared at the Potion Master's face, obscured by darkness. "Not until you've told us what this is!"

"This is none of your business! Leave!"

"The hell I will!" Harry waved his hand angrily and shouted, "Lumos!" Everyone in the room covered his eyes for a moment when the candles lit up brightly. Harry turned around, looking at the creature in the tub that hadn't moved at all. Now, in full light it looked even more like Draco.

"Good Lord..." Draco breathed out, staring at his copy.

"Go away!" Snape's face was distorted by anger.

The creature shrieked and got on its knees, leaning over the edge of the tub, the empty eyes aimlessly moving around in the room. Both Harry and Draco took a step forward at the same time, reaching out for the boy.

"Don't touch it!" Snape yelled, but both their hands had already made contact with the transparent skin.

A bright light broke out of the boy, blinding them for moment. The spot where their hands touched the skin first turned warm and then hot, the diluted lye prickling under their palms. They yanked their hands back with a cry.

It took them several moments before the effects of the brightness faded away and they managed to see clearly again. Harry heard Snape and Draco take in their breaths as he rubbed his eyes. Slowly, he lifted his head.

In front of him sat a boy on the floor. Somehow he looked nothing like the creature they had seen before. The crystalline hair had changed its color to a pitch-black that swallowed every reflection. The eyes, still spookily reminding him of Draco's, had turned dark as well, showing no depth or sparkle. The only thing that was still light on this boy's body was the skin that had lost its unnatural looks to a waxy, unhealthy paleness.

But despite all of this, one thing remained clear: this boy was the exact copy of Draco.

"Good Lord..." Draco repeated, staring at his image in horror. He whipped around, complete bewilderment on his face. "What on _earth_ have you done?" he yelled at Snape.

Snape looked just as shaken as them. "I... Oh my God..."

"What is this?" Draco was shivering with anger.

Snape buried his face in his hands. "Mistake. A... mistake. It's..."

"Blind."

Both Snape and Draco turned their heads to stare at Harry.

Harry's eyes were fixed on the boy cowering on the floor, It moving his head around helplessly, his hands groping for something to hold on to. "He's blind," he repeated flatly. 

***

~ to be continued in 'Part 5: Man' ~

August '01

Annotations:  
I apologize profoundly for the considerable delay in posting the next part. But I was rather busy and you probably noticed ff.net's downtime yourself. This part marks a very important turning point of the story and I wanted to take my time writing it. I'm still quite nervous about it, so I hope it will be received well...´_`:

As always, feedback is treasured.


	6. Man

Summary: Snape's dark secret is revealed and the friends are trying to deal with it.

What happened in the previous parts: The friends were invited to Malfoy Manor under Lucius' pretense of wanting to get to know Draco's friends better. After a disastrous weekend, they returned to Hogwarts, but Draco seemed strangely changed. When Harry thought he had found evidence of Draco's unfaithfulness, he uncovered a dark secret that involved Snape, Lucius and possibly a lot more than he might fathom.

Previous chapters and the cover illustration can be found at http://sonofthedark.glasscases.net

Rating: PG

This part is dedicated to my good friend Fleur without whom so much wouldn't be possible...

************************************

**Son of the Dark**  
by Silver 

~ Part 5 - Man ~

"You... you sick bastard!"

Draco howled like a furious beast and flung himself at Snape. The potions master lifted his arms to parry the attack. But still, one of the flying fists hit Snape on the chin and sent his head flying back, causing him to lose his balance for a second. Draco used this moment of confusion to punch him in the stomach and bring him down completely.

Hitting the ground hard, Snape groaned but didn't move or say anything. Instead he just sat there, staring into the void.

Draco, on the other hand, didn't feel his anger being placated enough and got ready to lunge at the man lying on the ground again.

Harry ignored them both. He was caught up in the sight of the poor creature, groping around on the floor as if he was looking for something. The most diverse emotions went through his head as he watched that.

Most of all, he was horrified. This boy looked like Draco in every possible way except for the hair and eye color maybe. He couldn't even dare to let his mind come up with possible explanations. It was just too insane!

But then again... something in that boy made Harry feel sorry for him. He felt as if it were his boyfriend crawling there on the floor in front of him, and he had to fight the urge to run to his side and support him.

In the meantime, Draco appeared to have given up on the idea of expressing his confusion physically and had diverted his attention to yelling. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you want a new sex toy now that I wasn't available anymore?" Turning his eyes to the ceiling, he groaned angrily. "God! The thought alone makes me so sick!"

"No!" Snape interrupted him weakly. "That's not the reason! That's not the reason at all!"

Draco snorted derisively. "And why should I believe that?"

"It's the truth! Draco, your father..."

"What?!?"

Right then, the boy suddenly got to his feet and tried to stand on shaky legs. Harry took a frightened step back, feeling threatened by this unknown creature taller than him all of a sudden, but a moment later the boy lost his balance and fell.

Without thinking twice, Harry reached out and grabbed the boy's arm, pulling him close and thus keeping him from hurting himself. Speechless, he stared into the empty eyes of the boy that yet seemed to be begging for help.

"For Christ's sake, don't touch it, Harry!" Draco cried disgustedly. "You don't know what it could do!"

"What could he do?" Harry laughed humorlessly. "Look at him, Draco! He's completely helpless!" Gently, he directed the boy over to a box and made him sit down. "It's all right..."

Against his better judgement, he lifted his hand and gently touched the boy's hair, just like he would do to Draco. The boy shrieked and lashed out at Harry, then turned away, hiding his face in his hands.

"I told you not to touch it!" Draco yelled and came towards them, his face contorted in fury.

"Will you stop talking about him as 'it'?" Harry yelled back, the shock finally leaving. "Look at him! Look!" He pointed at the boy's face angrily. "He looks like you! He could be your brother! How can you talk of him as an 'it'?"

Draco started at him, aghast. "Brother? Have you completely lost your mind? This... this _thing_ has sprung from that sick mind of his!" He thrust his hand at Snape.

"No..." Snape scrambled to his feet and got ready to get up.

"What?" Draco laughed spitefully. "Don't be dense! Why should we believe anything you say? Tell us one good reason not to report you to Dumbledore right away!"

"Your father."

Harry and Draco stared at Snape, dumbstruck. Since nobody interrupted him, Snape gathered a bit of confidence and continued. "Your father, Draco. It was his idea."

Draco blanched visibly. "No... you're, you're lying. Right, Harry? He's lying?"

Harry's face was gray as he listened to Snape. Suddenly, the mysterious scene at Malfoy Manor seemed to make sense.

Shaking his head, Snape continued. "It's the truth, Draco. Your father and I... we have a history. We... used to be lovers."

"No!" Draco clenched his fists and took a step closer, ready to fling himself at Snape again, but something held him back. "You're a liar! My father never would have..." He broke up, staring at the floor. His quickened breath made his shoulders heave rapidly. Then, all of a sudden, he grew very quiet and looked up.

"What else?" he asked calmly.

A faint smile spread on Snape's lips. "He contacted me a few weeks ago. He was talking about an experiment. I didn't think much of it then, but soon I realized that his plan was to make an exact copy of his son."

Draco gulped and stared down at his clenched fists again. So Harry asked instead, "But why? Why would he want to do that?"

Snape shrugged. "He never really explained it to me. I think, he wanted to recreate the feeling of having a son to be proud of. A son he could teach the ways of the Dark Arts."

With Draco still lost in silence, Harry continued. "How would he want to do that? Would he have tried to get rid of Draco and exchange them?" The mere idea made Harry sick with horror.

"No!" Snape shook his head vigorously. "I never would have endorsed such a thing. Besides, it's not possible. Simulacra--"

"Simul-- what?"

"A simulacrum. The exact copy of another person made with the help of magic. When done correctly, they can get away as a doppelganger for many weeks."

Draco groaned. "This is sick!" He turned to look at the simulacrum again and shuddered.

Sighing deeply, Snape said, "You're right. I didn't realize then what I was doing. It sounded like a curious experiment. But now that I see what it's doing to you..." Suddenly, he slammed his fist into his opened palm. "I was so stupid!" He turned around abruptly and left the room. A moment later he returned with a bottle that contained a green liquid.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, alarmed.

"I'm going to undo a mistake," was the grim reply.

"What?" Harry followed Snape who approached the sitting boy, opening the bottle. "Wait a moment!" He pushed himself between the Snape and the boy. "What exactly are you going to do?"

Snape scoffed. "I'm going to destroy it again, of course!"

Staring at the potions master in dismay, Harry was too shocked for words. Draco, however, wasn't. He woke up from his trance and cried, "Yes! Do it! Destroy it! Get rid of it, now!" His eyes had a mad glimmer as he stepped next to his copy.

Producing a syringe from a shelf, Snape loaded it with the liquid. Then, he grabbed the boy's arm.

The creature gave a frightened shriek, being grabbed like that. He started struggling against the unknown attacker. That made Harry snap out of his shock, and he hit at Snape, slapping the syringe out of his hand and making it crash on the stone floor.

"Fuck, Harry, why did you do that?" Draco yelled at him.

"Because I can't let you do that!" Harry was just as furious as his boyfriend.

"Why not? I want this thing out of my life!"

Harry was shaking now. Hearing Draco talk so heartlessly drove him crazy. "How can you say that, Draco? He's a living, breathing being. He's not a thing. Look at him!" His voice got softer until it almost nothing more than a whisper. "Just look at him. He could be your brother. In a way, he is... Your own flesh and blood."

"No..." Draco shook his head desperately. "He has to disappear." He sounded tired.

"Just look at him," Harry repeated calmly.

And Draco did. For a solid minute he stared at the other boy, taking in every single detail. Maybe the boy noticed it, but suddenly he calmed down and allowed the inspection. Draco drew closer, squinting, perhaps to get a better view.

He tentatively reached out, as if to touch the boy's cheek, but then shied away from it. Draco's hand stopped only a few inches away from his cheek, shaking softly, just like his whole body did.

Both Snape and Harry watched them with bated breath.

Suddenly, the boy's hand moved up and grabbed Draco's hand. Draco yelped in surprise and struggled to get away, but he wouldn't let go. Draco stopped and looked at the pale hand holding his wrist and frowned.

"His hand is warm..." he whispered.

Now he did reach out and touched the other boy's cheek. The boy whimpered softly, then pushed his face into Draco's hand.

"My God..." he sobbed and yanked back his hand as if he had been burned.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked calmly, despite the tempest of emotion raging inside of him. His question wasn't really directed at anyone. He felt so helpless. Someone needed to think about this. Someone who was good at thinking... "I'll be right back!" With that, Harry left the room, praying for the two men not to do anything rash while he was gone.

*******************************

"Oh... my... God..." Hermione stumbled back against a low table and sat down, staring at the boy in front of her. "I don't believe it!"

"Holy Mother of God!" Ron stood in the middle of the room, his mouth open in utter confusing. When Harry had come to get Hermione, Ron had insisted on coming along and now he looked like he was regretting it.

Harry said nothing, just looked at her earnestly, arms crossed over his chest. Next to him, Draco was leaning against the wall, just as silent. Snape had chosen to leave them alone and nobody had really objected.

"Is he... is he real?" she asked cautiously.

"What do you think, Granger?" Draco replied testily.

"Unbelievable..." She moved a little closer, inspecting the boy up close. "What a piece of art... It must have taken days, if not weeks to create such a perfect image. I wonder what spells he used..."

"Would you cut that out?" Clenching his fists, Draco stared at Hermione angrily.

Hermione gave him a cool look. "I'm only trying to evaluate in order to save your sorry..."

"Draco, Hermione..." Harry interrupted them both. "We need to find a solution. You can keep bickering later on."

"Right." Hermione nodded. Draco snorted. She got up and looked around the room slowly. "He tried to destroy him, you said?"

Harry nodded yes.

"Then we have to bring him to a safe place first. Somewhere where we can figure things out before we decide what to do." Everyone nodded in agreement except for Draco who continued to stare gloomily. Hermione lifted a questioning eyebrow. "Any suggestions?"

A moment of silence followed. When it became clear that nobody was going to make the first suggestion, Harry volunteered. "How about that room in the West Wing...?"

"Which room?" Ron blurted in without thinking.

Harry turned crimson and mumbled, "Well, the room. The one that lies deep down in the West Wing... nobody ever goes there." He gave Hermione a look pleading for understanding. "The _room_".

Ron blinked a few times. "Huh?"

With a exasperated sigh, Draco kicked himself off the wall and planted himself in front of Ron. "The room where Harry and I used to meet and do it like wild animals all night long. The room where no one would hear him scream when I made him come. The room where..."

"Draco!" Harry stared at his boyfriend, deeply embarrassed. He looked worriedly at Ron who had put a couple of fingers against his forehead as if he was having a headache.

"Okay, okay... too much information, too much information!" Ron looked up at the couple, his freckled cheeks burning as well. "I've got it now. No need to go into details!"

Draco smiled coldly. "Good. But the room is no good anyway."

"No, you're right," Harry said, trying to focus on more important matters. "It's okay at night, but during the day I wouldn't be too convinced that he would be safe." He looked thoughtfully at the pale boy who sat wrapped up on a cape reluctantly provided by Snape before he left. He was staring blankly into the air, his long, spider-like fingers clutching the cape as he rocked back and forth.

Harry shook his head slowly. "No, he needs constant attention. Someone will have to be with him all the time even if it's just to prevent Snape from getting rid of the evidence. But where..." 

"The Secret Hideout."

"What?" Everyone turned to look at Ron who had spoken with firm determination.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Draco frowned at Ron impatiently.

"Fred and George's hideout. I've been there once or twice and Harry, you should know how to find it. They're probably there right now."

It took Harry less than a second to think about this idea and decide that it was good. Perfect, even! Why hadn't he thought about this before? He gave Ron a grateful smile. "Ron, that's a fabulous idea! Let's go right away!"

Ron grinned proudly and looked at Hermione who nodded at him in approval. His cheeks flushed happily. "Okay! Let's go then!"

They already had reached the door when Harry realized that they needed to take the boy with them somehow. He gave Hermione a questioning look, but she already had taken matters in her hands. Harry saw her talking to him with a soft voice, gently touching the back of his hand. The boy tilted his head, listening to her voice intently.

Much to Harry's surprise, the boy allowed Hermione to help him up and lead him to the door. He was walking shakily and Hermione had to hold him by the waist, but he managed to support himself. All in all his movements appeared to be a lot more co-ordinated than they had been an hour ago! Harry's eyes fell on Draco who was watching Hermione with disgust and he frowned.

Deciding not to worry about that right now, Harry went ahead, checking together with Ron that the coast was clear for them to reach Fred and George's hideout. Figuring that the twins probably would appreciate it if he didn't give away its exact location to the others, he made sure they were at a safe distance before he took the necessary steps to open the hidden passage that would lead them through the tunnel into the Weasley twins' headquarters.

Watching the door that lay magically hidden beneath the walls of the second floor and was activated by tapping a certain cobblestone on the floor while mumbling the secret password, Harry felt himself reminded of the time when he had come here often. When he had been just talking with the twins, asking for their advice when he had thought he was going to go crazy over the muddle he had gotten himself into with loving Draco and mistaking his friendship to Ron for something similar.

How much time had passed since then? Not that much... and yet it seemed like a whole different life he was living. Harry felt a soft smile creep onto his lips. Being with Draco had been worth all the trouble and it was worth surmounting this as well. With new-found determination, he scouted ahead, leaving Ron at the entrance to guide the others inside while trying to give Fred and George at least a hint of a warning.

One of the twins was already waiting for him at the door to the secret hideout, his red head pushed past the crack in the door, suspiciously waiting for the intruder. When he recognized Harry, the twin smiled warmly. "Harry! You were the last person we expected! Actually, we weren't expecting anyone! Fred heard the chime so I decided to check..."

Harry gave George a somewhat awkward smile. "Listen... if you think seeing me is a surprise then wait till you see..." The same moment, a series of chimes interrupted his talk. George quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you bringing friends, or what?"

"A party?" Fred joined them at the door, looking curious.

"No, of course not. You know I wouldn't bring anyone here if it wasn't important."

"Of course we know," Fred assured him. "I was just kidding..."

"Woah, you're right. This _is_ a surprise..." George was looking past Harry's shoulder down the gloomy corridor. When Harry turned his head he could see the shock of Draco's silver hair reflecting in the light of the magical torches as he approached, an inscrutable expression on his face that Harry knew just too well.

"Actually, that's not it..." Harry confessed, not really sure what kind of reaction to expect.

"It's not?" Before George could finish his thought, the black hair of the boy came into view. Most of his body was hidden by the long cape and Hermione was virtually hugging him, so weak he seemed from the exhaustion of walking. Harry could tell from the corner of his eyes that the twins were surprised to see someone new among them.

"Is this a friend, Harry?" Fred asked curiously, eyeing the stranger.

"Well... sort of..." Before Harry could finish his sentence, the boy lifted his head and directed his dead eyes at the twins. Harry heard them suck in their breaths when they probably realized the resemblance. He didn't even try to explain further but stepped aside to let the twins take a closer look.

"Goodness gracious..." George breathed out, staring into the face that looked like Draco's and yet wasn't. He reached out to touch it, but Hermione held him bet. "Don't... better not touch him."

George nodded, obviously confused. "What..."

"We'll tell you everything we know when we're inside, okay?" Harry interrupted, noticing that the boy was already swaying in his feet. "Not that we know much anyway..." he added dryly as he followed the others inside.

*******************************

"I should have known there was something weird about the way Lucius was acting at Malfoy Manor..." Fred remarked deeply, his knees drawn up to his chin.

"Well duh!" George said and slapped his shoulder. "Everything about this freak is weird!" He gave Draco a grin. "No offense." Draco just waved his hand resignedly in answer.

"Anyway..." Fred said, rubbing his shoulder, thoughtfully looking at the boy who lay curled up on the bed. "Of course he can stay here until you guys know what to do. Got any ideas yet?"

Everyone looked at Hermione who shook her head slowly. "Not yet. I'll go to the library first thing tomorrow and see what kind of information I can look up."

Harry nodded. "Okay... thank you, Hermione..." He smiled at her gratefully. "Someone has to take the first watch now." He looked at his friends' tired faces and sighed. "Guess that's going to be me." He wasn't looking forward to spending the night here together with the boy, but he knew that he wasn't going to be able to get a moment of rest if he didn't do it.

"That's okay, we were going to spend the night here anyway," Fred said, much to Harry's relief. "We'll keep you company."

"Then I'll stay, too." Harry turned in surprise at Draco, who returned his look with grim determination. From the expression on his boyfriend's face he could tell that he still felt some kind of rivalry towards the twins and wasn't going to leave Harry alone with them. Somehow, Harry thought this was really sweet and he gave Draco a warm smile which, of course, was graciously ignored.

Ron looked around at all of them and said only reluctantly, "Well, I'll be going back to the dorm. After all, somebody's got to make sure everything's okay..."

Harry smiled at his friend. "You're right. Good thinking!" Ron responded with a blush. "Okay then," Harry continued. "You and Hermione can go now. I'll see you tomorrow. Draco and I'll stay here with the boy."

"Okay..." Ron nodded hastily and Harry could tell that he was anxious to get away from here. He couldn't blame him, and he shared a knowing glance with Hermione. He just hoped she was going to be able to cast some light on this matter. If anyone could, it would be her. Snape wasn't going to be much help anyway.

He watched Hermione and Ron leave the room, sighing to himself. Draco had settled himself in a chair and was staring at the boy gloomily. Harry felt a feeling of deep regret as he watched him. How was this going to affect their relationship? He couldn't tell... As much as he hated to admit it, the important thing now was to do the right thing. Even if it hurt. Only the right thing was yet to be determined.

Cautiously, he approached the boy, who lay curled up sleepily on the mattress. He gasped when Harry touched his shoulder, but relaxed as soon as he recognized his voice. "Shhh, it's okay," Harry murmured, tucking the cape around his slender frame. "We'll take care of you."

For a moment, the boy's eyes fluttered open, and he directed his vacant stare at Harry. Once more the horror of seeing his boyfriend reflected in this dead face caught his heart, and he shivered, yet he returned the stare even though he knew it was useless.

"Ha... ha-ha..." the boy muttered.

Harry frowned. "Sleep..." he commanded softly, making sure the boy lay comfortably before he returned to the others with a thoughtful expression on his face. The twins had already made themselves a bed on the other mattress and lay spooned up against each other, one arm thrown across the other one's hips.

Draco sat in his chair, feet put against a box. Harry walked over to him and sat down by his side on the chair, snuggling up against his chest. Draco put one arm around him and sighed.

"Everything's going to be okay, Draco..."

"How can you tell?" Draco murmured with his lips against Harry's hair.

Harry shrugged. "I just know. Everything's going to be okay as long as we're together."

"I just hope you're right..." With that, Draco pulled the thin blanket over both their bodies, cradling Harry's body against his chest. Harry could tell that all familiarities were used up for tonight and it was no use trying to involve Draco in further conversation. So he decided to give sleep a try, even though he already could tell that he wasn't going to get a lot of it.

*******************************

When he woke up, it took Harry a moment to realize where he was. He immediately felt Draco's presence and remembered that this had to be a special situation. Usually, Draco never allowed him that much intimacy as to fall asleep deeply in his embrace. Drowsily, he sat up and freed himself from his sleeping boyfriend who lay sprawled across the chair, taking most of the space anyway. He just stirred a little when Harry got up, but apart from that he stayed sound asleep.

Harry looked around the room, adjusting his glasses which had come half off when he had fallen asleep pressed against Draco's chest. He hadn't dared to take them off for fear of having to react quickly all of a sudden. His glance wandered over to the mattress to see if the boy was still asleep. The twins must have put out all the candles but one somewhere during the night. He squinted into the darkness. There was the cape lying in a pile on the floor, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Alarmed, Harry wanted to jump to his feet, but when he turned his head he suddenly found the boy standing next to the chair, his white skin eerily luminescent against the darkness. Harry could barely hold back a horrified yelp. His heart was racing like crazy as he stared back at the naked boy.

After he had caught himself, Harry took a deep breath and touched his hand. The boy flinched and moved his head, then he grabbed Harry's hand, holding it surprisingly tight.

"Ha-ha... ha... riiiii..."

Harry blinked and pressed back, almost too tightly, as he realized and he relaxed his grip. "I'm here," he whispered, not wanting to wake the others.

The boy didn't say anything else, just moved his head around, as if trying to see something. A shiver went through his body and it was only now that Harry fully realized he was naked. "Come on, go back to bed..." he murmured and got up. The boy followed his lead without resistance and sat down on the bed. He lay down, but didn't release Harry's hand, pulling him down with him. Harry tried to pull back his hand a couple of times, but the other one's grip was just too strong.

With his hand still locked between the boy's hands, Harry didn't have much choice when he turned around and curled up, but to lie down as well. A little reluctantly, he spooned up against the boy, the only comfortable position possible, and closed his eyes again.

When he woke up a second time, the room was alight with candles again and he found Draco looming over them with a half-furious expression on his face. Harry tried sitting up, but the boy still help him in a bone-crushing grip.

"Draco!" he gasped, finally managing to pull away.

"What do you think you're doing?" Draco asked quietly.

"He woke up and was standing there. I led him back to bed because he was cold."

"And that's reason enough for you to cuddle up with him?" Draco's brow creased into a deep frown. "God, Harry, you're so gullible! For all we know this creature could be out to kill us all! And you've got nothing better to do than crawl into bed with this... him."

Trying to tame his anger, Harry sat up. "And you're always so damn hostile against anything that's not..."

Draco crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared down at him. "Go on, say it. Say what's on your mind!"

Harry swallowed. "Your kind. That's what I was going to say."

"Oh?" the blonde said coolly, quirking one eyebrow. "_Going_ to say, eh?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, but I realized it wasn't true. You're one of us now. Your kind is mine."

That took Draco by surprise and he lost his angry expression. Before he could say anything, the boy sat up, staring blindly into the room. "Dre-koh," he mumbled.

"Huh?" Draco stared. "Did you teach him that?"

"No..." Harry shook his head. "He just started..." Just then Harry realized that the twins weren't there. "Where are Fred and George?"

"They're getting breakfast," Draco explained. The same moment, the door swung open and the twins waltzed in, loaded with rolls, buns and fruits.

"Good morning," Fred said good-naturedly, putting the food on the table. "How's everything? Any more clones since we left?"

"Frett."

"Yes?" Fred asked back, not looking up.

"Frett."

"Yes, what is it, Draco?" Fred said, a little annoyed now.

"I'm not..."

Fred turned around. "What's wrong with---"

"Frett."

George stared at the boy. "Hey, Fred, he said that! He said your name!"

"Really?" Fred looked pleased and approached the bed. "Hey, little guy!"

"Mate, you shouldn't call him 'little', he's just as tall as Draco!" George laughed.

"Yeah, I know he just seems---"

"Jodge."

George laughed happily. "Hey! You can do better than that! Say it again: Geoooorge."

"Jodge."

"Ah, never mind!" George chuckled again, then he looked at Harry seriously. "How did he know it was us?"

Harry had asked himself the same question. Then the answer dawned on him. "I said your name before. He's probably just copying what I said."

"Cool! Can you say 'twit'?"

His brother bopped him. "George, stop teaching him insults!"

"Well he can already say both your names. I don't see how much of a difference that would make..." Draco commented dryly.

The twins chuckled.

Harry looked at Draco proudly. Seeing his boyfriend engage in this friendly bickering really made him happy. He got up and impulsively hugged Draco, kissing him on the mouth. Draco murred and pulled Harry closer, wanting to deepen the kiss, but he was prevented from realizing his intentions when the soft chime announced a visitor.

"That must be Hermione," Fred said and ran to the door, waiting for her. And true to his prediction, Hermione entered the room shortly after, followed by Ron who was still chewing on a croissant.

"Hello, everyone," she said cheerfully, putting the heavy book she was carrying on a nearby chair. "How's the patient?"

"He's talking," Harry reported, summing up the morning's most exciting event.

"Really? Now that's fast..." Hermione didn't seem to be the least surprised as she approached the bed, looking down at the boy.

"Are you saying you expected that?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes... I did some basic research in the library and what I found out is that Simulacra tend to mature after they've been taken out of the tank."

"Simul---" Fred repeated.

"I remember Snape using that word," Draco said.

"Yes." Hermione opened the book and read out, "Simulacrum, the image or perfect copy of a person. Usually used as a decoy or for confusing the enemy, but also to try out spells etc.. Requires a very complex and difficult potion, not to be tried by an inexperienced mage. To brew the potion, several rare ingredients are needed, including some parts from the original specimen. The potion takes about a week to develop its full effect. After that, the seedling can be placed inside the tub where it ripens and matures. Contact with the lye or the seedling during this period must be avoided at all costs. Once fully developed, the simulacrum is charged with a person's energy [chi] by making physical contact."

Harry listened carefully. Then he said, "Interesting, but that doesn't really answer our questions yet does it?"

"No..." Hermione tilted her head apologetically. "I didn't have the chance to do proper research yet, but now I know what I'm looking for. I'm quite sure that's it. The lye, the ripening of the body, the loading with energy. It all fits. Once I've looked into it further, I'll be able to say more. Maybe by tonight."

"This is so weird..." Ron said, for the first time speaking since he had entered the room with Hermione. "I'm looking at this boy and I see Draco with black hair. It almost seems like he was a mix of both Draco and Harry. I don't know what to think..."

Hermione thought about this for a moment. Then she said, "You could be right actually. Maybe he has been charged with both of Draco and Harry's energy at the same time. I just don't know what it means yet..."

They all looked at the boy for a moment, quietly taking in his looks.

"Ronn..." he suddenly murmured.

"Eh?" Ron looked horrified. "How does he know my name?"

"I just sa..." Harry stopped. "No, I didn't. I don't think anyone said your name yet, did we?" He gave the group a look of utter confusion. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."

"Well, at least he got _your_ name right," Fred said cheerfully.

"Not that there's much to get wrong in the first place," George snickered.

"Hey! He needs a name!" Fred proclaimed, looking at the boy. "What should be call him? 

"Gulliver!" George suggested.

"Zippo!" Fred retorted.

"Sparky!"

"Theobalt!"

"Agamemnon!" All heads turned to Hermione who blushed. "Sorry, I thought that sounded neat..."

"Bob!"

"Louis!"

"Le...o...nid..."

A silence spread. Slowly, each pair of eyes wandered over to the boy sitting on the bed, pale and lost. Then he opened his mouth again and repeated, "Leonid..."

They were quiet again, too surprised for words. Then Harry nodded slowly. "All right... then Leonid it is."

*******************************

The room was dark. Only a few candles cast a spare light on the room and the person sitting there in his armchair, hunched over an object on his desk. It tinted his face in a ghostly green, intensified by his sallow cheeks. The strands of his black hair caused harsh shadows on his face as his hands rubbed over the orb in front of him and he whispered something.

The orb's glowing got brighter and it began to flicker until the outlines of a face appeared, sharpening slowly, wavering around and reconnecting until it showed the clear image of a man.

"Severus," the face said.

"One moment, I can't see you," Snape murmured, brushing the orb with his fingers once more. Lucius Malfoy's face fully manifested itself inside of the orb.

"Don't bother with that," Lucius said, slightly impatiently. "I don't have much time."

Snape nodded, taking in the delicate features of the other man. "Greetings, Lucius."

"Hello." Lucius flicked back a strand of his hair. He looked away, as if somebody else was with him. Snape's eyes narrowed. Then Lucius directed his attention at him again and asked, "So, got any news? How's the simulacrum coming along?"

Now it was Snape's turn to glance to the side, his eyes wandering over to the empty tub in the corner of the room. He looked back into the orb and swallowed, an inscrutable expression upon his features. Then he said softly, "Everything's going according to plan." 

***

~ to be continued in 'Part 6: Peorth' ~

April '01

Annotations:  
Again, what can I say? This probably was the longest break I've ever taken from a story. It wasn't even intentional. Call it bad bad writer's block. I've barely written anything at all in that time. However, part of the delay was caused by my starting a new original project. If you're interested, check my homepage every now and then. I'm probably going to link to it soon! ^_~ Anyway, I'll try to post more often now. Definitely not such a long break anymore! I'm really sorry about that!

Since a lot of people have asked and nobody has gotten it yet, it seems: my titles all are runes and the properties attributed to them usually indicate the general mood of the chapter! ^_^

As always, feedback is treasured.


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